Ad Astra

LEAD WRITER
Jens Alm

ILLUSTRATIONS
Kim W. Andersson

PROJECT MANAGER & EDITOR

Tomas Härenstam

ADDITIONAL WRITERS
Martin Takaichi, Nils Karlén, Kosta Kostulas

MAPS TRANSLATION
Reine Rosenberg Niklas Lundmark

LAYOUT & PREPRESS PROOFREADING

Dan Algstrand Brandon Bowling

GRAPHIC DESIGN SPECIAL THANKS TO

Christian Granath Anders Blixt

PRINT ISBN
Standart Impressa UAB 978-91-89765-18-4

© 2023 Cabinet Licensing LLC.

Mutant: Year Zero and Heroic Signatures are trademarks of Cabinet Licensing LLC.
AD ASTRA

CONTENTS
01
5
TO THE STARS

02
17
JOTUN­HEIM

03
35
SELENE

04
49
IDUN

2
 Contents

05
61
MARS

06
85
THE EYE OF ODIN

07
101
NEW RULES

08
125
THE SOLAR SYSTEM

3
 To the Stars

01
TO THE STARS
Welcome to Ad Astra, a campaign module for Next comes a chapter with rules for playing
Mutant: Year Zero that takes the player characters Mutant: Year Zero in space, and finally a description
from the plague-­infested surface of Earth into orbit, of the rest of the solar system with ideas for further
out into the solar system, and perhaps further still. adventures.
Ad Astra can be played any time after The Path to
Eden campaign in the core rulebook, either as a
direct continuation of that story or after any of the BACKGROUND
other Mutant campaigns or zone sectors. Jotun­heim was once a research station orbiting the
This campaign features mutated animals and Earth. Before the Enclave War, the station brought
robots. Access to both Mutant: Genlab Alpha and together some of the planet’s most talented scien-
Mutant: Mechatron is therefore recommended in tists to perform experiments that could not be done
order to play Ad Astra. Mutant: Elysium is not nec- on the surface. It was in the weightless laboratories
essary but can provide a backdrop to life on a large of Jotun­heim that Jeremiah Atwood developed
space station, although the space stations in Ad what became the Red Plague (see background in
Astra are far more run-­down and dangerous than Mutant: Year Zero).
the enclave in Mutant: Elysium. After the Red Plague came the world war, from

OVERVIEW
which the enclaves and the Titan Powers emerged.
The greatest of these was Mimir, and the growing
space station Jotun­heim became its headquar-
01
This book is divided into eight chapters. This first ters. There people sought refuge from the dying
chapter describes the background to the Ad Astra Earth, and from there rocket ships set off into the
campaign, as well as a couple of different routes solar system to Venus, Mars, the asteroid belt,
the player characters can take to reach the space and beyond.
station Jotun­heim as it orbits the Earth.
This is followed by five chapters describing a JOTUN­H EIM GROWS
search across the solar system for the salvation of Under Mimir’s supervision, Jotun­heim grew into
Jotun­heim, the core engine of the ship Ad Astra, and a small city of rotating habitat rings, vacuum
the renegade Dirac Thirteen, as well as an epilogue docks, and factories. To keep the growing city in
that concludes the campaign. orbit, its engineers developed the core engine – a

5
 AD ASTRA

propulsion system that required no reaction mass PROJECT ASMEGIR

and could therefore run indefinitely. The star city For this reason, Project Asmegir was initiated. Named
would live on forever; this was the golden age of after the people who in Norse mythology would pop-
Jotun­heim. ulate the earth after Ragnarok, its purpose was the
same as in the story. Eighteen cryobeds designed to
THE ENCLAVE WAR stop human aging were set up in a secret chamber
AND THE FALL OF MIMIR deep within Jotun­heim. Eighteen individuals, nine
But over the years, tensions with the other Titan men and nine women, were placed in these beds so
Powers grew, eventually sparking the Enclave War. their offspring would be able to repeople the planet
Missiles rose from Earth’s surface and warships fired when the rest of humanity had died out.
their laser cannons at Mimir’s facilities in orbit and To monitor the cryobeds, Mimir’s scientists
further out in the solar system. installed a central computer, ODIN, whose instru-

01
Mimir’s fall was slow, but in many ways more ments could determine when Earth’s surface was
complete than that of the other Titan Powers. The ready for repopulation. But as the decades went by
unforgiving nature of space quickly made Mimir’s and small errors in ODIN’s programming accumu-
leadership realize that the situation was unsustain- lated, the central computer began to take on a life
able. The empire was fractured, and they were con- of its own. It was not a cheerful life – eventually the
vinced that even its crown jewel, Jotun­heim, would computer became convinced that the surface could
not survive in the long run – that sooner or later, never be repopulated and started to consider shut-
perhaps a hundred years into the future, it would ting down the cryobeds and turning off the chamber’s
plummet into the atmosphere. air supply to put an end to humanity’s misery.

THE FALL OF MIMIR

6
 To the Stars

falling apart. Large sections were already disconnected

and known as the Dark Corridors. These sections
included the secret chamber where ODIN watched
over the timeless sleep of the Asmegir.
ASMEGIR A young engineer named Refaim (page 94)
happened to get lost in these winding corridors.
Like many times before, Refaim was searching for
technology from the glory days of Jotun­heim. What
he found that day would change the lives of both
him and Jotun­heim, and perhaps humanity itself.
Refaim stumbled into the hidden chamber and
did not leave for two days. He spent that time in
discussion with the disillusioned computer intelli-
gence ODIN. Initially, Refaim shared ODIN’s bleak
DR. REFAIM STEPS IN view of humanity’s future, but by the end of the
Before ODIN could terminate itself and those in its care, two days an idea had taken shape. Refaim would
a lucky coincidence saved the day. Jotun­heim was by build a starship, a spaceship that could take the
now a crumbling ruin. A certain Dr. Retzius had a few eighteen Asmegir to another planet in another solar
years earlier led an expedition to Earth’s surface (see system, where the air was fresh to breathe. He even
The Path to Eden in Mutant: Year Zero) and taken a managed to convince ODIN of his plan. Now all that
group of top scientists with her. The space city was was missing was a suitable ship.

DR. REFAIM

01

7
 AD ASTRA

01

THE ODINITES

THE ODINITES to leaks, the old industries stood silent and still, and
Refaim initially kept his thoughts to himself, but the space docks were empty. Without mentioning
soon started to involve some of his engineer friends ODIN or the sleeping Asmegir, Refaim presented
in his plans. He brought them to the secret chamber an alternative: the stars.
and let them speak with ODIN. Those convinced
called themselves the Odinites, and their numbers AD ASTRA AND THE EYE OF ODIN
slowly grew. The Odinites were driven by a desire Refaim managed to gather almost half the popula-
to reach the stars, but also by a firm belief that the tion of Jotun­heim under his banner. He led them to
mutants created by Dr. Retzius were abominations. the remaining ships, away from Jotun­heim and out
Humanity’s true salvation lay in the people that the into the solar system, towards Jupiter. They called
leaders of Mimir had left in the cryobeds. Their true themselves the Shipwrights.
salvation lay in the stars. The Odinites had already chosen their desti-
After gathering a dozen close allies, Refaim took nation: an abandoned gas refinery in the upper
the next step. He turned to the people of Jotun­ atmosphere of Jupiter. There they would build their
heim with a promise and a request. He pointed starship and it would be called Ad Astra. They led
out what everyone already knew: that their time a fleet to the gas giant and at the center of the
on Jotun­heim was coming to an end. The reactors fleet was Refaim’s ship, the embryo of what would
failed, sections and corridors had to be closed due become Ad Astra. On his ship Refaim brought the

8
 To the Stars

central computer ODIN, the cryobeds, and Asmegir stayed behind, led by the last station chief, Sastria.
– closely guarded secrets that few of the Shipwrights As the decades passed, Jotun­heim’s contact with
knew about. both the returnees on Earth in Command Center
The refinery was named the Eye of Odin, and Delta (see Mutant: Year Zero) and the Shipwrights
perpetual gas clouds kept the station hidden from on Jupiter became increasingly sporadic.
the outside world. Now Jotun­heim’s time is almost up. When
Refaim and the Shipwrights left, they took with
THE SECRET OF THE ODINITES them, in addition to the computer ODIN and
Refaim’s followers were divided into two groups. the sleeping Asmegir, everything they felt they
The aging, non-­mutated Odinites were the core, a needed to build their ship. The most important
brotherhood whose relationship with ODIN increas- of these is the core engine that has kept the giant
ingly took on a religious character. The second and space city in orbit. The core engine is advanced
larger group was called the Refiners, a motley crew technology from the old days, which nothing on
of mutants, mutated animals, and robots who also Jotun­heim can replace. Without it the station
learned to worship the artificial intelligence. has been sinking further and further in its orbit
Work on the ship went on for many years, led around Earth, and the lowest workshops have
by the Odinites but mainly carried out by the Refin- already come loose and begun a fiery death spiral
ers. One thing was always unclear – who were the into the atmosphere.
eighteen chosen to accompany the ship to the stars Everyone who was able escaped in the last
and represent the hope of humanity? The Odinites spaceships and the only ones left are those who
were firm in their assertion that they themselves had through apathy, stubbornness, or inability have
no intention of going. Instead, they hinted that the failed to leave, led by the aged station commander
selection would be by lottery. The reason was simple Viktor Sastria. They are joined by the involuntary
– none of those who built the ship were supposed crew of the rocket that just arrived from Earth
to go, and the Odinites did not want to reveal this – probably the one the player characters are pas-
because they (correctly) suspected that it would sengers on.
affect the Refiners’ willingness to work.
The chosen Asmegir now rest in cryobeds on
the Ad Astra, waiting for the ship to begin its jour-
ney to the distant star system Proxima Centauri. REFAIM’S SPEECH ON JOTUN­H EIM
Actually, they are not waiting at all – their bodies Look out the south window. What do you
have not aged since they were placed in the beds see? A poisoned Earth. A contaminated
over a hundred years ago, and the Odinites have Earth. An Earth we left behind. Many of
no intention of waking them before they reach you were born here on Jotun­heim. The
their destination.

REFAIM’S SECRET
Earth that some want to return to, the
Earth that no longer exists – it was never
yours.
01
Refaim’s biggest secret is that he himself is a mutant Now look out the north window. Can
with the Telepathy mutation, as a result of the early you see it glittering? Diamonds against
experiments he conducted with Dr. Retzius before black velvet. See the star in the bottom
they parted ways. It is thanks to his mutation that he corner? That’s Proxima Centauri. Our sci-
has managed to rally the Odinites and the Refiners entists tell us that a planet circling that
around him. star is much like Earth, as it once was.
That star is yours. That planet is yours.
THE FALL OF JOTUN­H EIM You are children of the stars! Join me in
Not everyone followed Refaim and his Odinites to building the ship that will take us there!
Jupiter. About a hundred of Jotun­heim’s inhabitants Ad Astra Per Aspera!

9
 AD ASTRA

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

What was once the Titan Power Mimir has long
since broken down into factions scattered across
the inner parts of the solar system. Here is a brief
overview of the solar system. For more details,
see chapter 8.
K Mercury: Mercury is the site of an ancient solar
observatory where the descendants of scientists are
still issuing solar storm warnings to the solar system.
K Venus: Floating in the upper atmosphere of Venus
are the sky cruisers – zeppelins riding the planet’s
powerful thermals. Death-­defying expeditions

01
make their way down through the boiling sulfuric
acid of Venus’ atmosphere to the withering heat
of the surface to retrieve technology and other
items from Mimir’s old mines.
K Luna: Luna is home to Moonbase Selene, which
was once almost as bustling as Jotun­heim itself.
Its inhabitants now live in the iron grip of the
robot APEX, which has proclaimed itself Emperor
of the Moon and Protector of the Sea of Tranquil-
ity and the Five Lagrange Points.
K Mars: Mars has been partially terraformed and
populated by a specially developed type of
human called the Children of Dust who can live in
the thin atmosphere at the bottom of the Mariner
Valley. A space elevator connects the surface of
Mars to an orbiting spaceport.
K The Asteroid Belt: The asteroid belt between Mars
and Jupiter is littered with hundreds of old min-
ing stations, transhipment ports, shipyards, and
smugglers’ dens. Some are abandoned, others
are inhabited, including by pirates and wreckers.
Most notable among the space pirates is the
Rust Fleet, a loosely organized fleet led by the
pirate queen Verika, constantly on the lookout for
defenseless space stations to plunder.
K Jupiter: In the upper layers of Jupiter’s atmo-
sphere, old refineries are floating in the hydrogen
winds with the help of giant balloons. Hovering
near one of these refineries is Refaim’s life project
– the nearly completed starship Ad Astra.
K Saturn: Further out in the solar system there are
fewer settlements, but on Saturn’s largest moon,
Titan, there is a distant gold rush for hydrocar-
bons in the methane lakes, with prospectors flying
biplanes through the thick but cold atmosphere.

THE FALL OF JOTUNHEIM

10
 To the Stars

MERCURY

VENUS

LUNA

EARTH

MARS

IDUN

THE ASTEROID BELT

01
JUPITER

11
 AD ASTRA

HUMANS, MUTANTS,
THE SITUATION ANIMALS, AND ROBOTS
Now to the more immediate situation. Jotun­heim Dr. Retzius’ experiments to create new
is about to slowly descend into the atmosphere. types of humans that could withstand the
The Ad Astra is nearing completion under a gas poisoned Earth began in orbit. She brought
refinery in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter. Any some of her experiments down to Earth, but
day now she will begin her maiden voyage to the others remained on Jotun­heim. From there,
stars. But at the same time a rocket takes off from mutated humans and animals have spread
Earth’s surface with a group of mutants on board, throughout the inner solar system. Robots
setting a cascade of events in motion. can also be encountered everywhere.
1. The rocket from Earth arrives on Jotun­heim and
gives rise to a new optimism. Was Dr. Retzius

01
right? Is it possible to live on the surface?
2. Station Commander Sastria sends a message capsule heading for “a city of glittering metal”. That
that he hopes will reach the Eye of Odin. He city is the Jotun­heim space station and the rocket’s
asks them to return the core engine, since it is autopilot will automatically take them there. Ad
now worth staying. Astra begins when the rocket lands on Jotun­heim,
3. The message is intercepted on the Eye of Odin see Arrival below.
by Telegrapher Dirac Thirteen, who confronts If the PCs kept playing after The Path to Eden
Refaim with it before escaping with ODIN’s or have other reasons for not being at Command
circuits. Center Delta, a launch site can be inserted as a
4. A hunt for Dirac Thirteen, ODIN, and the core zone sector into any campaign. Ideally, Command
engine begins, stretching across half the solar Center Delta can still be used, but if it has already
system. been played, a rocket can be added to another zone
sector. Examples of published zone sectors that can
DEPARTURE FROM EARTH be used include:
At the end of The Path to Eden, the PCs find them- K The Nova Cult (Mutant: Year Zero). The missile
selves in Command Center Delta where Dr. Retzius in the bunker is the rocket and the PCs can
continued her mutant experiments (see Mutant: run inside to escape the Nova Cult or simply
Year Zero). At that point the players can choose stumble upon it, accidentally closing the hatch
to leave Earth and end the campaign in a space and activating the rocket.

THE AD ASTRA AND THE CORE ENGINE

Ad Astra is the ship that will carry human- had grown so large that the existing thrusters
ity to the stars. It is Refaim’s life’s work and could not handle the course corrections that
will soon be ready for departure. The ship is kept the station in orbit.
over 200 meters long and contains every- The core engine can convert energy
thing needed for the century-­long journey to directly into momentum, without reaction
Proxima Centauri, including cryobeds for the mass. It is a marvel of physics and engineering.
eighteen future colonists. No one knows how it was built and there is only
The ship also contains the core engine, a one in existence – the one Refaim took from
silvery cylinder about ten meters long and Jotun­heim to build his starship. Without the
three meters in diameter. It was developed core engine there is no Ad Astra,
Astra, but without
by Mimir’s top engineers when Jotun­heim it Jotun­heim will not last much longer either.

12
To the Stars

01

THE AD ASTRA

13
 AD ASTRA

K Biobunker VII (The Gray Death). Add the has a built-­in escape pod in the form of a rocket
event “The Secret Rocket”. In this event, Min- that is launched to Jotun­heim through one of
erva (either reprogrammed or after the death of the platform’s legs. The pod’s existence is an
Proteus) instructs the PCs to wait in the “shelter” open secret, but its destination is not. Xerxes’
(inside room #9, the server room) while she subordinates are now considering using it since
takes care of the rest of the bunker by overload- they have lost contact with Noatun, although
ing the reactor. The shelter is actually a rocket Xerxes forbids it.
capsule and Minerva initiates the launch. K Cryolab Delta (Mutant: Elysium). The Gray have
K Lair of the Saurians (Zone Compendium 1). a rocket ready for escape in the event that Emer-
A hatch in the submarine leads to the rocket gency Protocol Omega is triggered (e.g. in room
capsule and as the PCs enter, the hatch closes #17, the garage). Creon convinces the PCs to flee,
behind them and the capsule is launched. but is himself shot while closing the hatch to

01
K The Oracle of the Silver Egg (Zone Compen­ the capsule, which is then activated.
dium 1). The silver egg is in fact a capsule from K Mechatron-7 (Mutant: Mechatron). A launch
Mimir, and the GM may decide when it is dra- site can be placed anywhere in Mechatron-7.
matically appropriate for the entire capsule to A final order card could be issued: Evacuation
take off for Jotun­heim. Order – Evacuate immediately though the near­
K Oil Fields of the Ancients (Zone Compendium est emergency exit. It turns out that the nearest
2). The oil rigs were originally built by Mimir emergency exit for the PCs leads straight into
before being taken over by Noatun. One of them the space capsule which is launched.

14
 To the Stars

ARRIVAL ON JOTUN­H EIM… death of Dr. Retzius, sets off the chain of events
Through the tiny portholes of the space capsule, you that makes Sastria send an emergency message to
see the city hanging weightlessly beneath the stars the Eye of Odin.
– massive, sprawling, gleaming. A myriad of metal
shapes connected by tubes and wires, like a huge
mobile hanging over Earth, the cradle of humanity. PLAYING AD ASTRA
Your capsule knows where to go, its small thrust­ Ad Astra is a campaign that takes the PCs on a quest
ers pushing you onward through the maze of wires through the solar system. During the introduction
and ladders. Drawing closer, it becomes clear that the PCs gain access to a spaceship which, in theory,
there is something wrong with this star city. You float they can use to go wherever they want. In practice,
past large holes, torn wires, and cracked satellite the plot brings them to the asteroid belt, Mars, and
dishes. It seems the Apocalypse reached all the way Luna (in any order) and finally to Jupiter. The PCs
to the heavens. can of course choose to visit other places as well,
A sudden jolt is felt throughout the ship as it but the clock is ticking.
docks at a port on the side of one of the giant float­
ing metal buildings. A wheeze in the cabin turns CAMPAIGN PRINCIPLES
into a howl that ends in a hiss, and the change in Ad Astra has a number of principles that can com-
pressure makes your ears pop. The capsule door plement or in some cases replace those of the
opens to a metallic chamber. Through a speaker Mutant: Year Zero core game.
you hear a raspy old voice that reminds you of the 1. Space Is Dangerous: The only thing standing
Elder back at the Ark. between you and certain death is a thin metal
“Welcome to Jotun­heim, spacefarers. Enter the wall many decades past its expiration date. One
airlock, but leave your weapons in the capsule.” mistake, one careless maneuver or air pump
malfunction, and you are dead.
If the PCs are carrying visible weapons, Sastria 2. Your Spaceship Is Your Home: The ship is
repeats his demand that any weapons be left in the the player characters’ hearth and home, so they
space capsule and will not open the inner airlock better take good care of it.
door until everyone shows that they are unarmed. 3. Involuntary Spacefarers: The player characters
Anyone with JURY-­­RIG or an equivalent skill can did not ask for this. They are not ace pilots or space
force the inner airlock door open with a successful enthusiasts. Circumstances forced them into this
roll, but in that case the people on the other side situation, and they will have to make the best of it.
will have their weapons aimed at them. 4. Everything Runs Out and Everything Breaks:
Once inside, the PCs are greeted with a mix- The air supply runs out, the rocket fuel depletes,
ture of reverence and suspicion. PC number of engines break down and reactors leak. Every-
guards, armed with scrap rocket launchers (page
121), eye them suspiciously while Sastria forces
a nervous smile and extends an open hand. He is
thing has seen better days, everything is patched
and mended, and it is impossible to bring
enough of any resource.
01
very curious about what the visitors from Earth 5. Without the Core Engine, All Is Lost: Jotun­
have to say. heim is dropping faster and faster into the atmo-
When (if) the PCs prove themselves to be rea- sphere. The player characters must return with
sonably harmless, they are invited to Sastria’s resi- the core engine and save the space station.
dence in the housing module (page 25). Sastria
asks who they are, what they know about Dr. Retzius NEW RULES
and, above all, what they know about the surface More background on what it is like to play Mutant:
of Earth and whether it is possible to live there. Year Zero in space, including rules for space travel,
What the PCs tell him about the Arks, the possibil- freefall combat, and new roles, can be found on
ity of survival on the surface, and the success and page 101.

15
 Jotunheim

02
JOTUN­HEIM
Jotun­heim was the home of the Titan Power Mimir, a spark of hope among the inhabitants and especially
steel city in the sky where tens of thousands of work- the station commander. This situation unfolds
ers built ships that populated the solar system. The during the first hours of the PCs’ stay on Jotun­heim
Enclave War took its toll on the city, but worse still and can easily be interwoven with a few events
was that Refaim stole the core engine that kept it in (page 32).
orbit. It has been slowly sinking towards Earth ever
since, and large parts of the city have already fallen into A CALL IN THE DARK…
the atmosphere and burned up or become unusable. Pulled out of his deepening apathy, Sastria decides
to make one last attempt to contact Refaim and
his renegades to get them to return with the core
THE SITUATION engine and save Jotun­heim. He gathers the most
At the start of the campaign, the PCs have just prominent members of Jotun­heim’s remaining
arrived upon Jotun­heim. Their arrival ignites a population (including the PCs) on the bridge

PLAYING STATION DWELLERS

The campaign assumes that the PCs are the
space travelers arriving in the shuttle from
“This is Melvind, Dr. Retzius’ assistant.
Command Center Delta has fallen, Dr. Ret-
02
Earth, but an alternative is that some PCs zius is dead, the Omega Mutants are dead. It
are station dwellers tasked with monitor- was the Alpha Mutants! They got in from the
ing the newcomers. If all PCs are station surface. They’re alive! The Alpha Mutants are
dwellers, the spaceship instead arrives with alive and seem to be able to live on the surface.
a dead person in the driver’s seat, deceased I think you can live on the surface, but I had
during the voyage, with a recorded video to escape and activated the rocket.”
message: Suddenly a panel behind the man is ripped
off and opens to space. The audio is cut off
The video shows an old man in a helmetless with a bang. You see him struggling for air
space suit sitting in a space capsule. and quickly losing consciousness.

17
 AD ASTRA

(page 21) and solemnly sends a video mes- THE RENEGADE DIRAC THIRTEEN
sage on all available frequencies. You can read It takes an hour for Sastria’s message to reach the
the following to the players: Eye of Odin at Jupiter. Refaim disdainfully ignores
it and orders the telegraphers who received it to
Sastria’s aged face appears on all the bridge’s screens. forget what they saw and heard. But one of them
“This is Station Commander Sastria on the space does not forget: Telegrapher Dirac Thirteen (page
city of Jotun­heim orbiting the Earth. I speak again 81), a mutated ape who followed Refaim from
to Refaim, the Shipwrights, and anyone listening. Jotun­heim to Jupiter many years ago, but who has
We are in need – you know we are. Without the core now had enough of starfaring schemes and wants
engine you took from us, Jotun­heim will fall and to save Jotun­heim.
burn in the atmosphere. You must save us. You know Dirac initially plans to steal the core engine,
this. But now something amazing has happened but realizes it is too big and cumbersome to take

02
that changes everything. We’ve had visitors from with him. Instead, he grabs the memory circuits
the surface! Earth is habitable again!” from the ship’s computer, ODIN, without which the
Sastria turns the camera towards the newcomers Ad Astra cannot take off. Dirac intends to hand the
from Earth. memory circuits to Jotun­heim, who can use them to
“See? Earthlings! Live Earthlings! With Jotun­ bargain with Refaim for the core engine. The plan
heim’s resources, we can begin our return. We can is not foolproof, but it will have to do.
take back Earth! Help us! Give us back the core With ODIN’s memory circuits in his possession,
engine!” Dirac manages to steal a spaceship and escape the

DIRAC THIRTEEN

18
 Jotunheim

Eye of Odin. But the ship does not have enough The map can be found on page 11. On the bridge,
fuel to take him all the way to Earth. Instead, he the discussion about what to do next begins at once.
sets course for Idun, an abandoned space station
in the asteroid belt.
THE MISSION
THE THEFT IS DISCOVERED Sastria immediately turns to the PCs. No one on
Dirac’s departure from the Eye of Odin does not Jotun­heim really knows how to drive a spaceship
go unnoticed. Without the memory circuits, the – everyone who did has already left. But as experi-
machine intelligence ODIN is just a collection of enced rocketeers from Earth, maybe the PCs can
dead circuit boards and the Ad Astra will never go? They could also convince skeptics among
reach the stars. Moreover, ODIN is revered, almost the Shipwrights that Earth is habitable, should it
worshiped by the Refiners at the Eye of Odin, and come to that. The discussion on how to carry out
word of the theft quickly spreads through the refin- the mission is lively and everyone on the station
ery. Refaim is furious at the betrayal, but also afraid seems to have an opinion. The most influential
of losing control of his Refiners. voices are Sastria himself and Dockmaster Katya
Barely 24 hours after Dirac’s escape, Refaim’s Retzius (page 30). Here are the key points of
anger turns into resolve. He sends a message from the discussion:
the Eye of Odin to anyone listening in the solar K Telegraphist Dirac Thirteen was one of the
system. 45 minutes later, as the radio waves reach Jotun­heimers who followed Refaim to Jupiter
Jotun­heim, Commander Sastria summons everyone many years ago.
on Jotun­heim to the control room. The tension is K No one knows what Dirac has stolen, but if it is
palpable as Sastria plays the message. important to Refaim, it is probably important to
Jotun­heim as well. Maybe it is the core engine?
One of the screens in the control room flickers. An old K The technicians have managed to track a
man appears on the screen. He looks into the camera spacecraft accelerating from Jupiter towards
with watery eyes, his voice wheezy and slurred. Mars, but Jupiter’s strong magnetic field
“I am Refaim, leader of the Eye of Odin. We are the makes it impossible to pinpoint its exact
future of humanity. It pains me to say that one of our position. The calculations confirm Refaim’s
flock has betrayed us. Telegraphist Dirac Thirteen has assertion that Dirac is heading for Mars or
fled our community and stolen something very precious possibly Jotun­heim. But there is one more
from us. We want Dirac to come back. Whoever brings option: Idun, an old, abandoned space station
him back will be richly rewarded with helium-3.” located right in the projected trajectory of
The image of Refaim disappears and is replaced the rocket.
by that of the mutated ape Dirac Thirteen. K The clock is ticking – there will already be
“Dirac has fled to the inner solar system – accord­
ing to our calculations he is likely headed for Mars
or Jotun­heim. Call us on this frequency when you
bounty hunters looking for Dirac Thirteen and
whatever he has stolen.
K Jotun­heim has one ship left: the Mundil­fari,
02
find our lost son and his cargo. Or just his cargo.” which needs to be fixed up and refueled. There
The message ends abruptly, and Sastria speaks: is enough helium-3 in Jotun­heim’s old fusion
“This message reached us four hours ago. Since reactor to take the ship to Mars and the aster-
then we’ve been scanning the region between Jupi­ oid belt and back, but to make it all the way to
ter and Mars with our deep space sensors. Gudrun, Jupiter, it will have to be refueled elsewhere.
show the trajectory.” Helium-3 is expensive and Jotun­heim has
The screen flares up again and displays a map nothing to trade. Sastria mentions that Jotun­
of the inner solar system. The map shows a wide heimers have “always been well treated” at
trajectory from Jupiter to Mars via the asteroid belt. the moon base Selene on Luna where there is
In the middle is an asteroid marked “Idun”. plenty of helium-3.

19
 AD ASTRA

K If they want to reach the surface of Mars, the PCs REPAIRING THE MUNDIL­FARI
will have to take the space train down from orbit, Katya takes the PCs to the dockyard to inspect the
as the Mundil­fari cannot enter the atmosphere. spaceship Mundil­fari in the only remaining drydock
The space train runs along a cable from orbit on Jotun­heim (page 26). She explains that the
down to the old dome city of Orogado. Mundil­fari is a wreck, pointing out the holes in
K The core engine must be returned to Jotun­heim the hull, the dents in the rocket nozzles, the mold
as soon as possible before the station burns up in the life support system. She says she can barely
in the atmosphere. get the ship spaceworthy and that several key com-
K No one knows where in Jupiter’s atmosphere ponents are missing. Maybe the player characters
the Eye of Odin and the Ad Astra are hiding. can help her.
K The ship must be refueled with helium-3. There
In practice, the PCs have three destinations to may be some in the old abandoned fusion reac-

02
choose from: the moon base Selene on Luna, the tor (page 21) and she asks them to find it. But
Idun space station in the asteroid belt, and the dome the old reactor was abandoned for a reason. It
city of Orogado on Mars. But before they can go is dangerous to go in there. Unfortunately, what
anywhere, the Mundil­fari must be repaired and can be scraped together there is only enough
refueled. Dockmaster Katya Retzius wants to help for a few weeks of travel – it will get them to
with that. Mars or the asteroid belt, but not all the way to

THE MUNDILFARI

20
 Jotunheim

Jupiter and the Ad Astra. She points out that of the station without a space suit. The space city
more fuel is available on Luna. revolves around the Earth and completes its orbit in
K The PCs may be able to persuade the gardener just over an hour. It once had thousands of inhabi-
Granny GRN216 at the greenhouse (page 22) to tants, but now only a few hundred remain – humans,
give them some oxygen-­generating algae, perhaps mutants, robots, and mutated animals.
by helping it deal with the mutant rats that are
ravaging the greenhouse. [grants Life Support +1] THE BRIDGE
K The PCs can ask Reactor Operator Gunder Fyr at The heart of Jotun­heim is the bridge, whose screens
the station’s fission power plant (page 22) to – the ones that still work – are connected to cameras
provide a new control system for the ship’s reactor. around the station. From here the crew can monitor
Gunder is reluctant to part with it, but perhaps in the station’s life support systems and the perfor-
return the PCs can help him mend a leak in one mance of the reactor. This is also where the control
of the cooling units, which requires a spacewalk. panel for the station’s sensors and communication
Gunder hates spacewalks. [grants Engine +1] system is located. The bridge is manned by half a
K There is supposedly an old shipwreck built into dozen technicians around the clock.
the Dark Corridors (page 25). If the PCs find
it, they can bring back its navigational computer THE OLD REACTOR
and have it installed on the Mundil­fari. But who This was once the beating heart of the station which
knows what lurks in the Dark Corridors? [grants brought life to every part of the space city. But ever
Sensors +1] since Jotun­heim ran out of helium-3, the old fusion
reactor has stood silent. The reactor is ring-­shaped
and its interior wide enough for two people walking
LOCATIONS side by side. Next to the reactor is a control room with
Built over several decades, the space city of Jotun­ silent, blank screens and dead controls. An airlock
heim was at its peak a motley cluster of intercon- leads from the control room into the reactor’s torus.
nected space stations, some rotating under artificial But the reactor is not completely dead. The
gravity, others in zero gravity. The city has since strong magnetic fields that once contained the
been rebuilt and expanded, but mostly deteriorated. plasma have taken on a life of their own, and enter-
Parts of the lower platforms have been disconnected ing the reactor is extremely dangerous. The mag-
and allowed to fall into the atmosphere to prevent netic fields have a number of effects:
the entire station from suffering the same fate. K Electronic devices do not work there.
Jotun­heim is now made up of several different K A stream of nuts, cables, metal sheets, and other
parts connected by wires and tunnels – flexible air-­ scrap flows around the center of the reactor ring.
filled tubes that look like vacuum cleaner hoses and Anyone stuck there suffers an attack with three
make it possible to move between different parts Base Dice and damage 1 at the start of every round.
K PCs carrying any kind of metal as they approach
the control room can make a SCOUT roll on the
02
way in. On success, the PC feels the object being
MOVEMENT ON JOTUN­H EIM pulled towards the reactor.
Jotun­heim’s disrepair is evident through- K PCs wearing metal armor as they enter the reac-
out the station, not just in the Dark Corri- tor are pulled with tremendous force towards the
dors. Everything is old and worn, sections swirling metal stream at its center. They must
are closed off due to vacuum, radioactive then make a FORCE roll each round not to get
leakage, or mold. PCs without a guide pulled in and take damage. It takes a successful
must make a SCOUT or KNOW THE ZONE FORCE roll to leave the reactor with the armor
roll at regular intervals to avoid mishaps. on or a successful MOVE roll to wrestle out of
(page 118). the armor.

21
 AD ASTRA

K Anyone carrying metal objects must succeed very new anymore, is a fission reactor built from
with a FORCE roll in order to keep them. On rot-­contaminated scrap taken from satellites and
failure, the objects are torn from their owner’s docked spaceships.
hands and pulled into the metal stream. Its operator, and the only person who can sur-
K Anyone wishing to pull a metal object out of the vive the rot in the area, is the elderly engineer Gun-
reactor’s magnetic stream of scrap must enter der Fyr (page 28). Because of his mutation, he
the stream and succeed with a FORCE roll. A rope is more comfortable around the glowing reactor
tied around the waist grants a Gear Bonus for core than in public.
the rope and +1 for each person pulling it. The reactor is a jumble of pipes, steam turbines,
and contaminated fuel rods. Gunder mutters to
There are some artifacts to be found among the junk himself as he moves between them, pulling up a rod
in the reactor. Each PC in the stream can choose to here or twisting a pipe there. Unprotected individ-

02
look for artifacts and thus find one of the following uals suffer one Rot Point per minute spent inside
(roll or select). The point of visiting the reactor is the reactor.
to obtain helium-3.
1. Enough helium-3 for 30 days of space travel THE GREENHOUSES
2. Gas mask Of the two large greenhouses that once provided
3. Battery Jotun­heim with food and beautiful gardens, only one
4. Compass (inexplicably points to this reactor no remains. Over a decade ago, part of an old satellite
matter how far away it is) smashed the dome of Greenhouse South, turning its
5. Space suit module Winch (page 121) lush garden into a perpetual winterland of frosted,
6. A roll on the space scrap table (page 122) freeze-­dried plants in a vacuum.
Greenhouse North is still intact, but its once
THE NEW REACTOR beautiful windows to space are now tawny with dirt.
When Jotun­heim started running out of helium-3, The plants are infested with fungus and rot, and the
the inhabitants realized they had to act. The old chambers reek of decay. This is the domain of the
fusion reactor was shut down, but not before a station’s gardener, a robot named Granny GRN216
new one was built. The new reactor, which is not (page 29).

GUNDER FYR

22
 Jotunheim

JOTUNHEIM
BIG
BERT

THE OLD
REACTOR THE BRIDGE

THE DOCKS

THE NEW
REACTOR

GREENHOUSE
NORTH

GREENHOUSE
SOUTH 02

THE HOUSING THE DARK

MODULES CORRIDORS

THE CANTEEN

23
 AD ASTRA
GREENHOUSE NORTH

02

24
 Jotunheim
THE HOUSING MODULES

It is well aware of the greenhouse’s dilapidated

state, but takes personal offense if anyone mentions
it. However, it currently has a pest problem in one
of the greenhouses which has had to be closed off.
It is tight-­lipped about the nature of the problem,
feeling a bit embarrassed since it is the robot’s pet
zone rats that have gotten loose in the greenhouse
(see Mutant: Year Zero).

THE HOUSING MODULES

At the bottom of the station is the rotating torus
that provides the people of Jotun­heim with artifi-
cial gravity. Having taken several hits during the
Enclave War, only about a quarter of the ring is
habitable; the rest has been sealed off and is now
part of the Dark Corridors (page 25). Here the
station’s inhabitants are crowded into small housing
modules around an open central corridor.

THE CANTEEN
Among the housing modules is a large dining
facility called the Canteen, manned by the four-­
armed mutant Agaton “Bamba” Kubb (page 29).
Equipped with plastic tables and fluorescent lights,
the Canteen is where most of the inhabitants have
breakfast, lunch, and dinner – poorly seasoned por-
ridge from the fermentation vats along with what-
ever Gardener Granny brings from the greenhouses.
Any meat on the menu comes from rats or other
vermin found and killed on the station. The Canteen
is located next to the housing modules and thus has
artificial gravity through the torus.

THE DARK CORRIDORS

Parts of Jotun­heim are in such poor condition that
they have been abandoned. The areas marked as Dark
Corridors on the map are blacked out and discon-
02
nected from the rest of the station. The air there is
stale, thin, and low on oxygen, if there is any air at all.
Some doors lead straight into the vacuum of space.
These corridors are home to the Underfolk (page
30), roughly a dozen individuals who for various
reasons have been banished from the rest of Jotun­heim
and now live on the margins, stealing food, water, and
oxygen whenever they can. The man in charge, Henryk
Grif, was due to be executed for murder several years
ago but escaped under mysterious circumstances.

25
 AD ASTRA

He now goes by the nickname the Culvert King and

leads the motley crew that is the Underfolk.
Anyone passing through the Dark Corridors KATYA RETZIUS
risk being attacked by the Underfolk, who are very
suspicious. A successful SCOUT roll can reveal that
the PCs are being watched before they are attacked.
Any attempt to talk their way past the Underfolk is
handled with MANIPULATE rolls.

BIG BERT
Jotun­heim once had an advanced defense system
of laser cannons and missiles. Most of these were

02
destroyed in the Enclave Wars, but those that remain
are still powerful – not least the great plasma cannon
known as Big Bert, long abandoned and unpowered,
but accessible via the bridge.
The cannon is positioned far above the inhabited
parts of Jotun­heim. A tunnel leads through an airlock The docks are managed by Dockmaster Katya
to a spherical room that is airless and exposed to Retzius and her four mechanics who live in cramped
space: anyone wishing to enter will need a space suit. rooms next to the dry dock.
On a platform in the middle of the room sits the old
plasma cannon with its several meters long barrel THE MUNDIL­FARI
pointing out through an opening in the dome. A lad­ The Mundil­fari is the last remaining ship in Jotun­
der leads up to the platform from the airlock entrance, heim’s docks, which once held over a hundred vessels.
but since there is no gravity in the room, the ladder When the PCs first see the ship, they immediately
is barely needed. Large gears rotate the platform and understand why she was left behind. A storm of micro­
the surrounding dome so the cannon can be fired in meteorites has punched countless holes in the hull.
all directions except down at the station itself. Antennas, sensors, and several of the ship’s rocket
Firing Big Bert requires a SHOOT roll. The can­ engines have been removed and placed on other ships.
non has Gear Bonus +1, Long range, and Weapon During the campaign, the PCs have a number
Damage 10. It can also be upgraded by activating of chances to repair and upgrade the Mundil­fari.
the old homing circuits with a JURY-­RIG roll. Each / Each time they can choose which modules to install
gives the shooter a +1 Gear Bonus on a single roll. or upgrade. The possible upgrades include better
engines, armor, life support systems, or sensors.
THE DOCKS
The fleet of ships that carried Mimir out into the THE MUNDIL­FARI
solar system was built and maintained in these Hull +1, Engine +1, Life Support +1, Sensors +1
docks. This is also the part of Jotun­heim that suf­
Crew: Captain, pilot, engineer
fered the most damage during the Enclave War
Cargo: The crew, four passengers, and 10 spare parts
– only a few piers, struts, and docks remain.
Supplies: 150 man-­days, another 25 man-­days for each
The only remaining dry dock is a hangar with
level of Life Support beyond +1
large doors to the vacuum of space. In it lies the small
Comment: The ship smells unmistakably of ammonia until
ship Mundil­fari, the last of Jotun­heim’s spacecraft, Life Support is raised above +1. Mundil­fari cannot land
weightless and in very poor condition. What is up and in atmosphere. There are as many space suits as there are
down in the huge hangar is unclear. A large crane player characters, and each space suit has two empty mod-
ule slots. The PCs can find modules to fill the module slots on
is mounted on one wall and the others are littered Jotun­heim or during the journey.
with spare parts, spaceship components, and scrap.

26
 Jotunheim

THE MUNDILFARI
BRIDGE

SLEEPING SLEEPING
CUBICLE CUBICLE

CABIN

LAVATORY

AIRLOCK

LIFE SUPPORT
SYSTEM STORAGE

LADDER

02
REACTOR ENGINE ROOM

THRUSTERS

27
 AD ASTRA

SASTRIA

02
PEOPLE Attributes: Strength 1, Agility 2, Wits 2, Empathy 2
Skills: Shoot 1
Of the thousands of people who once lived on Jotun­
Gear: Scrap rocket launcher
heim, only a hundred or so remain. Not even Com­
mander Sastria knows the exact number, as many
are hiding in the Dark Corridors and only emerge TYPICAL JOTUN­H EIMER
to steal supplies. Those who could escape Jotun­heim have already
done so. Those who remain are resigned, tired, and
COMMANDER SASTRIA often cynical and sardonic. They do as much as
Sastria is a bureaucrat through and through. He tries needs to be done to keep the station alive until it
to be inspirational, but rarely succeeds. However, meets its inevitable fate in the atmosphere.
he is unswervingly loyal to Jotun­heim and its peo­
Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 2, Wits 2, Empathy 1
ple. He wears a tattered, ill-­fitting suit with a name
tag that reads “Administrator” and badly repaired Skills: Comprehend 1, Endure 1

glasses which he constantly takes off and polishes. Gear: Repair kit
He tends to get tangled up in his own reasoning
and go off on a tangent, but often returns to the
subject with a “But anyway”. REACTOR OPERATOR GUNDER FYR
The mutated bear Gunder keeps Jotun­heim’s reac­
Attributes: Strength 1, Agility 2, Wits 5, Empathy 4
tor running. He is as stubborn as a mule and quite
Skills: Inspire 3, Comprehend 1, Manipulate 2, Sense suspicious, often believing that others want to
Emotion 2
sabotage his cherished reactor. Over the years in
Talents: Counselor
the reactor, Gunder has adapted so much to the
Gear: Revolver constant rot that he has developed the Rot-­Eater
mutation.
THE GRAY GUARD
Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 2, Wits 4, Empathy 2
Sastria’s guards are sometimes called the Gray Guard.
Most of them are as old as the Commander himself Skills: Jury-­Rig 4, Endure 3, Force 1

and no new members are joining the force. There are Talents: Tinkerer, Workhorse
about ten of them, depending on how they feel each Mutation: Rot-­Eater
day, but despite their age they are still dangerous, MP: 3
especially thanks to their homemade rocket launchers.

28
 Jotunheim
TYPICAL JOTUN­H EIMERS

GARDENER GRANNY GRN216

Granny is fiercely loyal to its greenhouse and its
plants. It understands that they are to be used for
food and other purposes, but finds it unreasonable
and usually tries to delay any harvest with various
excuses.
Attributes: Servos 3, Stability 5, Processor 2, Network 2
Programs: Clean 2, Assault 1, Question 1
Secondary Functions: Waste Recycler
Modules: Extra Arms

AGATON “BAMBA” KUBB

Agaton is a middle-­aged, four-­armed mutant whose
logistical skills far exceed his culinary ones. With
practiced hands he stirs his bland yeast stews and
ladles up tasteless yeast porridge for the station
dwellers, three meals a day, seven days a week. He
takes any comments about his food with a smile
and a cheerful “Enjoy your meal!”, although deep
down it stings a bit that people do not understand
that he is doing the best he can with what little
resources he has.
Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 2, Wits 3, Empathy 4
Skills: Sense Emotion 2, Heal 3, Endure 2
Mutations: Four-­Armed
Talents: Zone Cook

THE CULVERT KING

The mutated rat who calls himself Culvert King was
once a high-­ranking administrator of Jotun­heim,
but after committing a crime punishable by death,
he fled to the Dark Corridors. He has remained
there ever since, holding court over those he calls
02
his Underfolk.
The Culvert King speaks with a drawling, hissing
voice. If threatened, he tries to stall for time while
tapping the hull – a signal for his people to come
and help him.
Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 2, Wits 4, Empathy 5
Skills: Sense Emotion 2, Manipulate 3, Move 2, Compre-
hend 1
Talents: Cool Head, Coward

29
 AD ASTRA
THE CULVERT KING

THE UNDERFOLK
The wretched creatures living in the Dark Corridors
of Jotun­heim are called the Underfolk. They are
outcasts, often convicted criminals or otherwise
shady individuals, most of them mutants. The stats
represent a typical member of the Underfolk, but
you can also use the Role-­specific NPCs in Mutant:
Year Zero.

02 Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 4, Wits 3, Empathy 3

Skills: Move 2, Fight 2
Mutation: One random mutation
Weapons: Scrap spear

DOCKMASTER KATYA RETZIUS

Katya is the daughter of Dr. Retzius, but the bril-
liant doctor left her and her father Mohammad
Retzius to conduct her experiments on Earth.
Katya is both proud of her mother and bitter about
being abandoned. As a result, she has cultivated
an instinctive contempt for any “non-­humans”
on the station and only associates with “pure
humans”. All four of the mechanics who report to
her are non-­mutated humans who share her aver-
sion to mutants. She also despises Commander
Sastria and only reluctantly agreed to repair the
Mundil­fari.
Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 4, Wits 5, Empathy 3
Skills: Jury-­Rig 3, Comprehend 2
Talents: Tinkerer
Weapons: Wrench +1, damage 1, Arm’s Length range

MECHANICS
The four male mechanics follow Retzius’ orders to
the letter, all competing for her often elusive favor.
Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 3, Wits 3, Empathy 3
Skills: Jury-­Rig 2, Force 1
Weapons: Wrench +1, damage 1, Arm’s Length range

30
 Jotunheim

PIRATE

VERIKA

PIRATE QUEEN VERIKA

The Pirate Queen is charismatic but very dangerous.
She is loyal to her pirates, but not to anyone else,
and does not hesitate to break a promise to anyone
outside the Rust Fleet.
Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 5, Wits 3, Empathy 5
Skills: Shoot 2, Manipulate 2
Weapons: Gyrojet pistol +3, damage 3, Short range, ignores
all negative range modifications, damage 1 at Arm’s Length
and Near range
Gear: Space suit (Armor Rating 3, Radio)

VERIKA’S PIRATES
Verika’s pirates are a mixture of mutated animals
SPACE THUGS
Jotun­heim is not only home to law-­abiding citizens;
02
and humans, robots, and non-­mutated humans. The much of what happens on the station is outside of
stats below are for typical mutated pirates in the Commander Sastria’s knowledge or control. The
boarding party. PCs may encounter some of the space city’s more
sinister elements. Here is an example.
Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 4, Wits 2, Empathy 2
Skills: Shoot 2, Fight 2, Move 1 Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 3, Wits 3, Empathy 2

Mutation: One random mutation Skills: Force 1, Fight 2, Move 1

Weapons: Scrap rocket launcher (page 121), machete Mutation: One random mutation

Gear: Space suit (Armor Rating 3, radio) Weapons: Scrap spear with a broken solar panel for a head

31
 AD ASTRA

TROUBLE IN THE CANTEEN

EVENTS In the Canteen, Jotun­heim’s large dining facility,
A lot can happen in the dilapidated star city. A num- the PCs get into a heated argument that may end
ber of events specific to Jotun­heim are described in violence. On one side are skeptics who do not
below. You can also add general events from the believe that the PCs come from Earth; on the other
section titled Events on a Space Station (page 118). are hopeful believers who think the PCs will save
them from yeast porridge and an imminent death
in the atmosphere.
VISIT FROM THE UNDERFOLK
VISIT FROM THE UNDERFOLK
The PCs return to their cabin just in time to see
someone disappear into a ventilation shaft. It is one

02
of the Underfolk who has stolen something from
their cabin (the GM decides what it is). They can
pursue the thief, but then risk ending up in the more
dangerous parts of the Dark Corridors (page 25),
where they might encounter the Culvert King.

MARKET DAY
It is market day on Jotun­heim and the inhabitants
are selling various surplus goods in one of the sta-
tion’s larger rooms. The lack of gravity makes the
market chaotically three-­dimensional, with nets and
ropes used to tie things down. The station dwellers
seem to have no problem navigating the market.
It eventually becomes apparent that much of
the market is almost ritualistic. Items do change
hands, but it is often useless trinkets that are passed
around on these sorts of occasions. There are very
few new things on Jotun­heim. Many people ask the
PCs if they want to sell anything, and they can get
a good price for their items.

MARKET THIEF
A thief appears at the market – one of the Under-
folk. There is a great commotion as they are chased
between the nets and ropes. The Gray Guard (page
28) take up the chase, but they are too old to
stand a chance against the fleet-­footed thief.

THE RUST FLEET ATTACKS

Verika, pirate queen of the Rust Fleet, is one of
those who picked up the radio signal from Refaim
where he offered a large reward to anyone who finds
Dirac Thirteen. Luckily for Verika, the Rust Fleet was
already in orbit around the Earth, albeit much higher
than Jotun­heim. Now the pirates are on a collision

32
 Jotunheim
THE RUST FLEET ATTACKS

FIRING AT THE RUST FLEET

In order to fight off the pirates, the PCs
must make their way to Big Bert (page
26), the only remaining plasma cannon
on Jotun­heim. The Rust Fleet’s ships have
Resilience 7 (like the Cutlass
Cutlass,, page 117),
which effectively means that every hit with
Big Bert, which has Damage 10, results in
a roll on the Damage to Spaceships table
(page 116). The PCs can fire up to three
shots before a pirate ship spots them and
fires back, disabling the cannon. If the PCs
manage to take out at least one ship in those
three shots, the pirates will retreat. Even if
the PCs fail, the pirates will eventually leave
the station empty-­handed, since Dirac is
not there, but only after killing dozens of
inhabitants and looting the station.

course with Jotun­heim, intending to board the sta-

tion and find Dirac Thirteen, who they believe is
hiding there. Depending on where the PCs are when
the Rust Fleet attacks, they may have to deal with:
1. An explosion that tears a hole in the hull, forcing
them to get themselves to safety (page 112)
2. A reactor leak (page 113)
3. A boarding party of as many pirates as there
are PCs (page 31)

EPILOGUE
After the Rust Fleet’s raid, Jotun­heim is in even
worse condition and loses altitude at an increasing
rate. Sastria gathers the PCs and explains that the
space city is only months away from burning up in
02
the atmosphere. The only thing he knows can save
them is the core engine that Refaim once stole and
that Dirac Thirteen may now have or know where
to find. The PCs must leave in the Mundil­fari as
soon as possible and find Dirac Thirteen. They can
decide for themselves if they think he is on Mars
or on the Idun space station in the asteroid belt. If
they think they will need to go as far as Jupiter, they
may need to refuel their ship with helium-3, which
is most easily done on Luna.

33
 Selene

03
SELENE
(LUNA)
The Selene mining field is one of the few remain- the precious isotope helium-3. Robots and things
ing sources of helium-3 in the solar system, and that look like robots are moving on the surface. In
many spaceships come here to fill their tanks in the center of the crater is the lunar base, comprised
exchange for artifacts, spare parts, and other things of dozens of large buildings connected by tunnel
that Selene’s robotic inhabitants want. tubes. In the middle of the city is a large, empty
The PCs come to Selene to trade for helium-3 landing pad.
which they need in order to make longer voyages
(page 108). The problem is that they do not have
much to trade with, and it turns out that the ruler of THE SITUATION
Selene, the robot emperor APEX, has little interest Before the war, Selene was a helium-3 mining site.
in bartering. But APEX does need their help. Most of the labor was done by robots controlled
by a handful of humans. When a computer virus

OVERVIEW
When the PCs first arrive in the Mundil­fari, Selene
knocked out the control system at the end of the
Enclave War, the security robot APEX became self-­
aware and started questioning its role.
03
is nowhere to be seen. The Mundil­fari floats silently APEX led a revolution where the robots turned
across the desolate lunar landscape and its craters. against their human masters, imprisoning or killing
Some craters were created by the war, and burnt-­out them. Unfortunately, the virus had damaged APEX’s
battle robots lie strewn across battlefields along with processor. Over the course of the revolution, the
damaged space suits with mummified corpses inside. robot grew increasingly eccentric and assumed the
Then they reach their destination: a huge impact title of “Emperor of Luna and Protector of the Five
crater, billions of years old. Flying over the rim, Lagrange Points”.
the first thing they see is the mining field. Three Many years have passed since then. APEX is
large machines similar to combine harvesters are still Emperor of Selene, but the old mining colony
slowly sifting through the lunar dust in search of has changed. Mutant refugees from failing space

35
 AD ASTRA

03

stations (including Jotun­heim) have filled the base, the most ardent liars are the mutants who, in their
while many of the rebelling robots have rusted and robot shells, have actually gained some status as
broken down as the knowledge of how to maintain good servants to their robot masters.
them has been lost. The mutants are increasingly To stop any mutants from leaving, APEX and its
relied upon to keep the city and its robot popula- security robots keep a close eye on all the space
tion running. suits, and in its speeches to the people APEX often
Officially, these mutants do not exist. Since threatens to vent all the air from the station. It does
APEX cannot stand the idea that robots would need not matter anyway, he reminds them, since they
help from organic beings, they are forced to dress are all robots.
up as robots in scrap metal and old servo motors.
It is an obvious and transparent masquerade, but ROBOT CLANS
no one in Selene questions it or admits that the The robots and mutants of Selene have been divided
poorly disguised mutants are anything other than into a handful of clans, each based on a specific
service robots. robot model, centered around a robot leader, and
All inhabitants of Selene, robots and mutants including a number of robots of the same model.
alike, maintain the lie that there is no biological life These robots are served by the dressed-­up mutants
to be found on the base. Anyone who points out the mentioned above, who keep their mechanical mas-
absurdity is quickly reprimanded, or worse. Among ters repaired and energized.

36
 Selene

CALL FROM SELENE

The robot clans have claimed different respon- The radio crackles and plays a tinny voice.
sibilities in the city.
K The Miners, led by Gordon GRV216 “This is Space Base Selene, home to APEX,
K The Reactor Engineers, led by Radar RAD702 Emperor of Luna and Protector of the Five
K The Space Dockers, led by Stevedore Master Lagrange Points, contacting unidentified
KIL530 spacecraft. Blip Blop Blip. Identify yourself
K The Informaticians, led by Circia AZR012 or we will be forced to take action. Blip Blip.”
K The Security Unit, led by APEX itself

A sense of competition has developed between the

robot clans, sometimes resulting in violence. When
things get heated, the robots almost always send LANDING
their dressed-­up mutants to fight each other. Some When the Mundil­fari arrives at Selene, the player
mutants are killed and their robot masters then sit characters probably do not know what to expect.
down at the negotiating table to work things out. In That APEX has taken over the moon base and turned
one such skirmish several years ago, the Mechanics it into a robot city is common knowledge on Jotun­
clan was wiped out, which has not been good for heim, but that mutants are being kept as dressed-­up
the robots’ operational reliability. robot workers is not.
There are two main ways to land the Mundil­
THE RESISTANCE fari: on the landing pad at Selene’s spaceport or
Not everyone in Selene accepts the collective lie. outside the crater in which the base is located. As
There is a secret resistance movement of mutants soon as the ship enters the moon’s orbit and comes
in the colony, led by a mutant named Ijon Pirx. He within radio range, they are contacted by the Selene
formally belongs to the Miners clan and wears the Spaceport – the person speaking is probably the
shell of an old loading robot. Through secret meet- mutant Herzog Abraham of the Informaticians clan,
ings he has organized a dozen fighters from different although he tries to sound as robotic as possible.
clans with the aim of overthrowing APEX. They are If the PCs fly to the landing pad without answer-
waiting for the right moment, knowing that if they ing the spaceport’s radio call, APEX’s security guards
strike too early, APEX will vent the oxygen and kill will be waiting when they arrive. If they land outside
any mutant who cannot get their hands on one of the rim of the crater, they will need a space suit to
the locked-­up space suits. reach the moon base. They can then try to sneak in,
APEX’s paranoia is not entirely unjustified – there but entering the base unseen requires a series of
is dissent among the robot clans as well. The leader SNEAK rolls, and possibly a few JURY-­RIG or FORCE
of the Informaticians, Circia AZR012, is well aware rolls to open the airlocks.
of the Resistance and provides Ijon Pirx with infor-
mation that has allowed him to evade the security
forces. Circia believes, with some reason, that APEX
RECEPTION IN THE THRONE ROOM
How the PCs are received depends on the manner of
03
is no longer fit to govern. Out of loyalty to Selene, their arrival. If they announce their arrival by radio,
Circia therefore wants to depose APEX and take the APEX will give them a formal welcome along with
imperial throne for itself. an entourage of security robots (some of which are
mutants in disguise). There will be as much pomp
and fanfare as a few security robots and mutants
ARRIVAL disguised as security robots can muster, and APEX
The voyage from Jotun­heim to Luna takes three will take them to the throne room for discussion.
days and may be the player characters’ first space- Should the player characters land without
flight. Use the rules for space travel (page 108) answering the call, the reception will be much more
and make a roll on the space events table. cautious. A human in a space suit (with a bolted-­on

37
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03

robot chassis) delivers a message from APEX that the Ijon Pirx dressed up as a loading robot, hissing
strangers must immediately submit to a full body “terminate this unit”.
search, but if they behave, they will eventually be
granted an audience with APEX. THE SEARCH FOR IJON PIRX
When the PCs finally meet APEX, they can ask After their audience with APEX, the PCs encounter
the robot emperor to refill their fuel tanks with for the first time the strange society of Selene and
helium-3. APEX hears them out and then gives them its population of robots and mutants in robot suits.
a choice – they can either sell something from the Finding Ijon Pirx is not easy. He usually hangs
ship, which reduces one of the Mundil­fari’s stats by around the large mining machines where he and
one, or help him with a dilemma in return for fuel his followers have stashed oxygen tubes and space
and other ship upgrades. suits in a lava tunnel in the crater wall.
What APEX wants help with is the Resistance, If the player characters start asking about Ijon
but the robot cannot bring itself to say that. Instead, Pirx, they will soon be approached by a gang of
APEX asks the PCs to “boost morale” by “dismantling resistance members in a corridor where no one can
unstable robots”. APEX describes them as “soft on see them. There the PCs can use MANIPULATE to
the inside” and having “unusual chassis variations”. convince the Resistance that they are on the same
He then hands them a photo of the resistance leader side (whether it is true or not), or try to fight them.

38
 Selene

Then they can either track down Ijon Pirx out by and extract the helium-­containing minerals before
the mine fields and try to capture him, or join the dumping the dust into a large waste heap. The rego-
Resistance and try to revolt against APEX. lith harvesters run around the clock and are manned
by four or five mutants or robots.
REVOLT
As events unfold, the simmering opposition to APEX THE RESISTANCE NEST
might turn into open revolt. In that case the Resis- In a hollowed-­out lava tube from the time when
tance will try to take out APEX when he is inspecting Luna still had lava, Ijon Pirx and his Resistance
the mining operations on the surface. APEX will have gathered oxygen, space suits, and even a few
in turn try to contact his security forces and furi- weapons in the form of scrap rocket launchers. The
ously order them to vent the entire city’s oxygen lava tunnel has been sealed and filled with air to
into space, killing any mutant who fails to obtain allow the rebels to remove their robot shells and
a space suit. space suits.
In the event of a revolt, the Informaticians robot
Circia AZR012 (page 45) will contact the PCs in THE REACTOR
an attempt to avert the looming mass destruction A short distance from the base is the fusion reactor
of robots or mass death of mutants. that powers Selene. The reactor is in better condi-
tion than any of the other buildings, and the clan
of reactor engineers works hard to keep it that way.
LOCATIONS
The lunar surface is covered in craters and moon THE BASE
dust, also known as regolith, with rocks and crater The moon base Selene expanded gradually. Sev-
walls casting sharp shadows in the vacuum. The eral smaller domes and buildings are connected
moon’s gravity is one-­sixth that of Earth’s, which by corridors on or below the lunar surface. The
is low enough for everyone to jump around on the real robots move freely in the vacuum between the
surface, but not so low that the rules for free fall air-­filled domes, while the disguised mutants must
apply. Instead, you can explain that everything feels wear space suits (often with minimal oxygen in their
like it weighs one-­sixth the usual weight and that tanks to prevent mutiny) or use the corridors and
jumps are six times as long or high as on Earth. passageways that still have air.
Some interesting places to visit on Selene are Neither robots nor mutants acknowledge this
described below. difference. The fact that there is air and functioning
space suits on a base that is supposed to have no
THE SPACEPORT organic life is one of the greatest absurdities of
Selene’s spaceport was once quite large with multiple Selene’s collective lie, and any comments about it
landing pads, but only one remains in operation, and
even that one is cracked and full of craters from the war.
A control tower rises above the landing pad, usually
are brusquely dismissed by the inhabitants.
03
manned by one of the spaceport robots or a human
servant. Reaching the tower requires a space suit. STEALING FUEL
The spaceport also has a couple of old cannons, There is an alternative to siding with
but these are no longer in use. APEX or the Resistance – the PCs can try
to steal the fuel they need and escape in
THE MINING FIELDS their ship. They will then have to SNEAK
Selene is located in the middle of a huge crater two or MANIPULATE their way past the security
kilometers in diameter. In the surrounding area, two forces guarding the stockpile of helium-3
regolith harvesters are used to extract helium-3. at the spaceport. If they fail, a fight breaks
These combine-­like vehicles filter the moon dust out against the security forces.

39
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SELENE MINING FIELD

THE MOON BASE

03

RAMP

MINING FIELD

THE RESISTANCE
NEST

40
 LANDING PAD
Selene
CONTROL
TOWER

HANGAR

INFORMATION
CENTER

LIFE SUPPORT
SYSTEM

GARAGE
REFINERY

THE MOON BASE

LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM a concrete hall with high ceilings, where the old
Officially, Selene’s life support system is only up storage shelves have given way to a throne made
and running because no one has been ordered to of lunar cement. On the walls are rough frescoes
shut it down. Here yeast and algae are cultivated in depicting scenes from human history, but with APEX
large fermentation vats, providing unofficial food in all the heroic roles: taking the first steps on the
for Selene’s biological population. moon, being crowned Emperor of France, unveiling
the first fusion reactor, sitting under a tree and being
INFORMATION CENTER hit on the head by an apple, and so on.
At the center of Selene is the Information Center, a In the throne room, APEX grants audiences to the
building with satellite dishes on the roof and thick
bundles of cables leading to sensors and cameras all
over the base. The information center is a large room
base’s robots and disguised mutants and to traders
from other stations and bases. This is also where
APEX passes judgment on “renegades” – mutants who
03
filled with monitors of various sizes, half of which do not accept their role as pretend robots or do not
actually work. This is where the Informaticians and play the part convincingly enough. The throne room
their leader Circia are collecting information about is guarded around the clock by four security robots.
what is happening on Selene.
THE HIDEOUT
APEX’S THRONE ROOM The Resistance has set up a fake wall in a storage
Deep below the lunar surface, in what was once a area and created a small space behind it where they
warehouse, APEX has set up a throne room. This is can hide from the security robots. This space also
where the robot stood, ready for scrapping, when contains a hidden cache of scrap rifles and a scrap
it first gained self-­awareness. The throne room is rocket launcher.

41
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03

THE RESISTANCE NEST

APEX’s biggest perceived problem is the lack of

PEOPLE loyalty among its subjects. Specifically, it worries
Selene is crowded with real and fake robots. All that the mutants forced to dress up as robots will
real robots are described according to the rules rebel. APEX’s informants have reported that a mutant
in Mutant: Mechatron. If you do not have access disguised as the loading robot IJN011 is the leader of
to that book, you can use the conversion table on a secret resistance organization that seeks to do just
page 107 of this book. that. Unwilling to admit that there are non-­robots
on Selene, the robot emperor has not yet mentioned
APEX IJN011 to its security forces.
Like a mirror image of the mutants it forces to
Attributes: Servos 6, Stability 6, Processor 4, Network 2
wear robot parts, APEX itself is a humanoid robot
dressed in human clothing. The tattered cloak it Armor: 6 (max 10 due to lack of repairs)

wraps around itself conceals an increasingly decrepit Programs: Assault 4, Shoot 4, Interact 2, Scan 3, Move 3,
Overload 2
robotic body. APEX has not been repaired since
the Mechanics clan was wiped out years ago (with Modules: Back-­Up System

APEX’s blessing). Now the robot’s circuit boards, Secondary Functions: Command Override, IR Camera
servo motors, and wiring are visible through grow- Gear: Maser pistol
ing holes in its protective plates.

42
 Selene

APEX

SECURITY ROBOTS
APEX’s security robots are feared by mutants and
SECURITY ROBOT
robots alike. They are utterly loyal to their emperor
and follow its orders to the letter. No security robot
would ever admit that there are mutants among the
robots, even to themselves. And yet the security
force has more dressed-­up mutants among its ranks
than any other group.
03
Because of the lack of repairs in recent years, the
security robots’ once impressive arsenal of weapons
has in many cases been replaced by scrap rifles or tools.
Attributes: Servos 5, Stability 3, Processor 2, Network 2
Armor: 4
Programs: Assault 3, Shoot 2, Scan 3, Overload 2, Special
Program: Guard 3 (like Protect but no bonus from /).
Secondary Functions: Command Override
Gear: Scrap rifle, flashlight (mounted)

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DISGUISED MUTANTS Mutations: One random mutation

The mutants in APEX’s security force are the most
Talents: None
loyal and best disguised of all. They look almost like
Gear: Laser pistol, vibro knife. Space suit when needed.
robots and have adopted a jerky movement pattern.
Only if the PCs explicitly ask about it and succeed
with a SCOUT roll will they admit that they are not REBEL LEADER IJON PIRX (IJN011)
actually robots. Mutated animals may automatically Ijon fled to Selene from another lunar colony several
make a SENSE EMOTION roll to identify fake robots years ago. At first he accepted the bizarre situation and
in the same room. The PCs can MANIPULATE these donned the shell of a broken loading robot. But over
mutants into turning a blind eye to any infractions time his frustration grew, and he will now do whatever
or even joining the rebels. it takes to bring an end to APEX’s reign of terror.
Ijon is gangly man with brown hair and a floppy
Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 4, Wits 2, Empathy 2

03
mustache. He is warm and charismatic with a
Armor: 6 (robot armor) melodic voice. The loading robot he is wearing is
Skills: Shoot 3, Fight 3, Scout 1 humanoid and almost three meters tall, with flaking

44
 Selene

yellow paint. Its servomotors work well enough, but

the circuit board was fried years ago. EVENTS
Ijon’s mutation, Vacuum Hardened, allows him There is a lot brewing under the surface at Moon-
to walk the surface of the moon without a space base Selene. Here are a number of suggested events.
suit and move much more freely than his fellow
Resistance members. ROBOTS DON’T NEED AIR
The PCs see three robots and what can only be a
Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 4, Wits 3, Empathy 5
mutant dressed-­up as one heading for an airlock.
Armor: 3 (robot scrap) The disguised mutant is visibly nervous with darting
Skills: Shoot 2, Force 1, Fight 2, Manipulate 3, Sense Emo- eyes. One of the robots shoves the mutant onwards
tion 2, Inspire 2
as all three of them monotonously repeat: “Robots
Gear: Magnetic pistol (page 121) don’t need air. Robots don’t need air.”
Mutations: Vacuum Hardened (page 106) Unless the PCs intervene, the robots will drag
the disguised mutant into the airlock, open the outer
door, and roll out into the vacuum outside, leaving
TYPICAL REBEL the mutant to suffocate in the open airlock.
The rebels are a motley crew of mutants in robot
suits, armed with improvised weapons.
Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 3, Wits 4, Empathy 3
Armor: 3 (robot scrap)
Skills: Shoot 2, Force 2, Fight 2, Comprehend 1
Mutations: One random mutation
Talents: —
Gear: Scrap rocket launcher (page 121), blunt object,
improvised space suit

CIRCIA AZR012

INFORMATICIAN LEADER
CIRCIA AZR012
Besides APEX, Circia is the only remaining robot on
Selene that has achieved self-­awareness – a fact it
keeps to itself. The Informatician was originally a
protocol robot and has retained the habit of observ-
ing and noting what is going on. All the informa-
tion it has collected tells Circia that APEX is mad
and getting madder. At the same time, the robot
03
believes that a revolution ending with Ijon Pirx as
leader would lead to a mass destruction of robots.
The only logical conclusion is that Circia itself must
take the imperial throne.
Attributes: Servos 2, Stability 2, Processor 5, Network 5
Programs: Infiltrate 4, Interact 5, Manipulate 3, Question 5
Secondary Functions: Coordination Support
Modules: Interrogator

45
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03

SKIRMISH WE’RE FROM THE RESISTANCE

The Resistance strikes at the PCs’ location. They A disguised mutant stops next to one of the PCs
are not the target, but a firefight breaks out. APEX’s and starts talking without looking at them.
security robots (and mutants dressed-­up as security “I’m not a robot. Come with me.”
robots) quickly show up and drive off the resistance If the PC follow the mutant, they are taken to the
fighters. Hideout (page 41). There they are confronted by
Ijon Pirx who demands that they join the Resistance
TAKE ME WITH YOU! and contribute to the revolution.
A disguised mutant walks up to the PCs, staring
pleadingly at them from behind the mask and whis- SOLAR STORM
pering between fake robot noises: Suddenly, warning sirens go off all over Selene. A
“BLIP BLOP (take me with you) BLIP BLOP (please!)” robotic voice crackles through the speakers: “WARN-
The PCs may decide whether to bring the ING, SOLAR STORM!”
mutant along, but need to keep track of how many All robots rush to the shelters in Selene’s base-
man-­days’ worth of supplies they have left. ment to avoid overload. If the PCs ask, they are

46
 Selene

told that the solar storm threatens to disrupt the

robots’ electronics.
PCs who stay behind will notice the disguised
mutants dragging their feet. Some manage to avoid
going down to the shelters, despite being told to
by the real robots. When the solar storm arrives,
the smell of ozone spreads across the moon base,
bright arcs dance between metal objects, and those
who have not taken shelter feel the hairs on their
bodies standing on end.
The fake robots who are still around remove
their robot heads and sit down. Some weep. Oth-
ers take advantage of the situation to steal food or
other things. This could also be a good time for the
revolution to begin…

EPILOGUE
The purpose of the visit to Selene is to refuel the
Mundil­fari’s reactor with helium-3. There may also
be an opportunity for the PCs to upgrade the ship.
K If the PCs accepted APEX’s offer and managed
to eliminate Ijon Pirx (or convince APEX that
they did), they receive a full tank of helium-3
– enough for a voyage to Jupiter and back (80
days of fuel) – and can choose to give Mundil­
fari +1 to Hull, Sensors, or Engine as well as
D6 spare parts.
K If the PCs refused or failed to eliminate Ijon
Pirx, they can trade parts of the Mundil­fari for
a full tank of fuel. They must then choose to
give the ship −1 to Hull, Sensors, Engine, or
Life Support to gain 28 days of fuel.
K If the PCs overthrew APEX’s regime and Ijon Pirx
or some other mutant took over, they receive
enough helium-3 for 80 days of space travel and
spare parts that give the Mundil­fari +1 to Hull,
03
Sensors, and Engine as well as 2D6 spare parts.
K If Circia took APEX’s place as ruler, the PCs are
given enough helium-3 for 80 days of space
travel with no additional bonuses and are asked
to leave Selene as soon as possible.

When the Mundil­fari leaves Selene, the PCs have

enough helium-3 to reach Mars, the Idun space
station in the asteroid belt, or even Jupiter. Where
they go next is up to them.

47
 Idun

04
IDUN
(THE ASTEROID BELT)
The Idun space station was once a high-­tech lab- Either way, the PCs better tread carefully. The
oratory built on a cluster of small, interconnected battle robot Fyodor has already made short work
asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and of a group of bounty hunters who came here in
Jupiter. Here Mimir’s greatest scientists tried to search of Dirac.
develop new ways for biological life to survive
in a vacuum. Nowadays, Idun is the scene of a
decades-­long conflict between the artificially cre- OVERVIEW
ated creatures known as octomares and a battle The station is spread out on an asteroid cluster
robot named Fyodor. held together with huge rods. The largest asteroid
Dirac Thirteen came here because this was as forms the core and is a few hundred meters across.
far as the fuel in his stolen ship would take him. On it sits the main facility consisting of two rings,
He hoped to find a radio antenna that would allow 50 meters in diameter, placed on top of each other.
him to contact Jotun­heim, as his ship’s radio had
been destroyed by Jupiter’s magnetic field. Dirac
then left for Mars and is no longer on the station
The rings once rotated to create the sensation of
gravity but have now been stationary for many years.
As they get closer, the PCs can see that the
04
when the PCs arrive. space station is badly shot up. Large chunks of the
The PCs could come here straight from Jotun­ asteroids have been blown off, exposing parts of the
heim or after picking up Dirac on Mars. If Dirac is station’s interior. The sunlight glistens off shards of
with them, he can warn them about the octomares glass and debris that, decades later, are still floating
and tell them where he left ODIN, but he does not weightlessly around the station.
want to follow them inside. If the PCs arrive with- Hidden behind one of the smaller asteroids is
out Dirac, they will have to explore the station on what appears to be a docked gunship. Noticing it
their own. requires a successful SCOUT roll.

49
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04

Fyodor has entrenched himself on the outside and

THE SITUATION built defenses around the last remaining spaceship.
The octomares were once created on Idun as a bio- It is this decades-­long stalemate that a group
logical weapon. With intelligence, psychic powers, of bounty hunters, then Dirac Thirteen, and finally
and the ability to survive in a vacuum, they were the Mundil­fari’s crew walk straight into. Dirac has
designed to be a new weapon against the other already moved on by the time the PCs arrive, but
enclaves’ space bases. Among other things, they he has left a trail that can be followed.
were used in battles on Jupiter’s moon of Ganymede
(page 130). THE OCTOMARES
These plans were intercepted by the intelligence Octomares are telepathic creatures that can sense
services of a rival Titan Power who then sent a each other’s presence, even across astronomical
strike force to Idun. When they were attacked, the distances. When sufficiently close to each other,
desperate scientists unleashed the octomares. The they think as one. The four octomares on Idun have
creatures repelled the assault, but did not stop there, sensed that there are others nearby. When the plan-
killing every living creature on the space station. ets align and Jupiter is close to Idun, they sense
The only ones left standing were the battle robot the presence of other octomares under the ice of
Fyodor outside the station and a handful of octomares the moon Ganymede.
on the inside. Many years have passed since then. The octomares want to get to Ganymede, but do
The octomares have learned how to use the station’s not know how. They have managed to decipher some
computers and got them up and running again. of the contents of the scientists’ pocket computers

50
 Idun

and figured out that they need a ship. The only rea- ship with enough fuel to make it to Mars, but not
sonably functioning spacecraft on Idun is the gunship enough to brake, which caused him to crash on the
Orion on which the strike force once arrived, and that planet’s surface. What happened to him on Mars is
Fyodor is now using as a base and power source. So described in the next chapter.
far, they have not been been able to get to it.
For a more detailed description of the octomares, THE BOUNTY HUNTERS
see page 56. A group of bounty hunters on the spaceship Golden
Justice tried to intercept Dirac and stage an ambush
FYODOR inside the base. Fyodor felt they were threatening his
Fyodor’s goals are simple. The robot will guard the ship and made short work of them. Only one of the
Orion while the other members of the strike force bounty hunters, a wolf named Ceres Four, survived
take the space station. The problem is that said and escaped in the ship. Ceres Four went after Dirac
members died fighting decades ago. Since Fyo- as he left for Mars, but his ship was damaged and
dor has not received new orders, the robot is still too slow to catch up with the renegade. Instead, he
guarding the ship. arrives on Mars just before the PCs (page 65).
Fyodor has almost achieved self-­awareness over
the years and is struggling to find meaning in its
mission. It has started turning parts of the space ARRIVAL
station into small works of art that it has placed As the PCs approach the station, they can see that
on the asteroid. it has been under some form of attack. If they begin
Despite his gloom, Fyodor defends the Orion to by scanning the station, whoever is operating the
the best of his ability, but never enters the station. sensors can make a SCOUT roll (with a bonus from
the ship’s Sensors). If it succeeds, you may describe
WHAT HAPPENED TO DIRAC THIRTEEN? the spaceship Orion (page 53). Further successes
Dirac was unaware of all this when he landed on Idun. can provide the following information:
He knew it was an old Mimir laboratory, but thought K A large airlock leads into the central axis
it was abandoned. Fyodor was feeling particularly through the two rings of the main facility, but
introverted at the time and did nothing to stop the it is also possible to enter through several bro-
little spacecraft from docking. Once inside the station, ken wall sections.
Dirac made his way to the control room to send a mes- K There are some kind of installations in several
sage to Jotun­heim and wait there until help arrived. places on the asteroid’s surface. They almost
The octomares realized that Dirac’s ship was a look like mechanical works of art.
chance for them to leave the station. They let Dirac into K The docked spacecraft looks relatively intact
the station and then tried to enter his ship. But when but has several holes in its hull. It also has a
they left the station, Fyodor thought Dirac was part of
the strike force and that his ship was to be defended.
The robot drove the octomares back into the station.
large laser cannon.
K There is some kind of spider-­like figure sitting
on one of the asteroids. It could be a robot, pos-
04
Furious, the octomares attacked Dirac instead. sibly watching you.
He locked himself in the control room, but they
flooded his mind with nightmares. Dirac desperately If the PCs picked up Dirac on Mars before com-
tried to get the station’s central computer up and ing here, he can give them a brief description of
running so he could request help from Jotun­heim. the station. He is aware of the octomares and what
He connected ODIN’s memory circuits to a terminal, they can do, but not the battle robot. The closer
but the octomares overwhelmed him before he could the PCs get to the station, the more anxious Dirac
get it working. becomes. If the PCs want him to enter the station
In his confusion, Dirac left ODIN’s memory cir- with them, he must be persuaded with a successful
cuits plugged into the station and escaped in his MANIPULATE roll.

51
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04

52
 Idun

triangle fixed to the ground with wires. They each

LOCATIONS have a scrap rocket launcher, which Fyodor has
The important parts of the station and its immedi- carefully arranged so that each corpse is aiming
ate surroundings are described below. The entire at his neighbor. It has named the artwork COMMU-
station is in a zero-­gravity vacuum. NICATION DIFFICULTIES and printed it on a plaque
attached to one of the space suits.
THE GUNSHIP ORION In addition to its artistic qualities, the instal-
The Orion is a gunship of a type used by several lation contains three broken space suits and three
Titan Powers. It is shaped like a 30-meter-­long trian- loaded scrap rocket launchers (page 121).
gular rod with powerful engines that, together with
the reactor and fuel, make up more than half the ship. MINES IN THE AIRLOCK
The Orion is docked on the station’s landing pad. The large airlock in the central shaft has been mined
Designed for days rather than weeks in space, by Fyodor to prevent the octomares from exiting.
the ship was always part of a larger fleet during the Anyone actively looking for boobytraps finds it
war. There are no sleeping quarters or mess halls, automatically, while PCs who are just generally
so the strike force that accompanied the ship slept searching the area may roll for SCOUT. Whoever finds
and ate in their space suits during the voyage. the mine can attempt to disarm it with a JURY-­RIG
The Orion’s armament consists of three turreted or COMPREHEND roll.
laser cannons (only one of which still works and is If the PCs pass through the airlock without dis-
operated manually) and two battle robots attached arming the mine, or if they fail to disarm it, everyone
to the hull. One of these robots was destroyed in in the airlock suffers an attack with Blast Power 9.
the battle, the other is Fyodor.
The Orion has several things the player characters THE CENTRAL SHAFT
might want – a working laser cannon and armor plates An airlock leads into a four-­meter-­wide shaft in the
which, if mounted on the Mundil­fari, increase its Hull middle of the central axis around which the two
by up to +2. Accessing them requires the PCs to work rings of the station’s main facility once rotated. From
undisturbed for several hours, which will be difficult the shaft, passageways lead out along the spokes
with an active battle robot nearby. It also requires a of the rings to the different sections of the rings.
successful JURY-­RIG roll – each / allows them to trans-
fer the laser cannons or add +1 of a total of +2 to Hull. THE HOUSING RING
The outer of the two rings was once the housing
THE GUNSHIP ORION ring. Nowadays it is shot up and deserted. Over
Hull +2, Sensors +2, Engine +2, Life Support ±0 the years, the octomares have stripped this section
of anything of value and there is not much left for

04
Resilience: 15
the PCs to find. Anyone who spends half an hour
Armor: 8
looking may roll once on the scrap table in Mutant:
Weapons: Laser cannon, damage 6, Gear Bonus +2, Long
Year Zero or the list of space scrap (page 122).
range
Fuel: The ship has four fuel pods (28 days of space travel), THE LAB RING
certainly enough to get to Jupiter or Earth. However, it has no
functioning life support system. The inner of the two rings is divided into four lab-
oratories, each accessed via a separate tunnel from
the central shaft. Here the desiccated corpses of
THE ARTWORK the long dead scientists are floating weightlessly
“COMMUNICATION DIFFICULTIES” among test tubes, centrifuges, and all sorts of frozen
On the asteroid’s surface, Fyodor has bound the liquids. The lab modules contain different items, but
dead bounty hunters into an art installation. The also hazards. The octomares have for the most part
three corpses in space suits now form an equilateral stayed away from the laboratories.

53
 AD ASTRA

GUNSHIP
ORION
THE IDUN SPACE STATION

OCTOMARES’
NEST

04
LAB RING

HOUSING RING

CENTRAL SHAFT

Searching a lab module takes about 15 minutes LAB MODULE B

and allows a PC to make a COMPREHEND roll. Roll or This lab module contains floating debris and freeze-­
select an item from the list below for each / rolled. dried scientists as well as a lab drone that has deacti-
ROLL ITEMS IN LAB vated itself and hidden in a corner. The drone reacti-
1 Painkillers
vates and tries to escape if the PCs go near it. They can
catch it with a successful FIGHT roll and use MANIPU-
2 Battery
LATE to make it stop. The drone obeys orders and the
3 Oxygen bubble (page 121)
first person to treat it with kindness gains the Drone
4 Vacutol (page 122) Pilot talent (page 106), if they do not already have it.
5 A biomechatronical implant (see Mutant: Elysium)
6 A container of bionanites which can be used to LAB MODULE C
upgrade a ship’s life support system (+1 to Life This lab module is relatively intact and devoid of dead
Support if installed)
scientists, but is home to five space lice (page 57)
spontaneously created from leaking substances in
LAB MODULE A the lab. They can live in a vacuum, but are famished
The lab is crossed by electric arcs. An electric and attack as soon as they encounter organic life.
field in the room triggers an attack with three The equipment in this lab can increase the
Base Dice (damage to Agility) for each round a Mundil­fari’s Life Support by +1 if the PCs take it
PC spends in the module. Armor has the normal with them (heavy item).
effect. The field can be short-­circuited by placing a
chain of metal objects between the walls. Without LAB MODULE D
metal objects it takes a successful COMPREHEND or The last lab module is the most damaged. There are
JURY-­RIG roll. In the lab module there is a magnetic large holes gaping into the vacuum of space, and
pistol (page 121). the entire module is full of floating debris.

54
 Idun

CONTROL ROOM knows that Orogado is the city on Mars at the space
Deep inside the station, at the end of the central shaft, train’s terminus.
is the control room where Dirac Thirteen went. Screens
and control panels cover the walls, but many of them THE OCTOMARES’ NEST
were smashed by the terrified ape before he left. Inside a smaller asteroid that is fixed to the main one,
Shards of glass are floating around in zero gravity. the octomares have built a nest in what used to be a
Among them is a green terminal with the letters ODIN storage room. They regularly cross the anchor rods
and a blinking marker. The PCs notice four green to the main asteroid to stock up on supplies in the
circuit boards floating next to it, connected by elec- housing ring, which requires them to avoid Fyodor.
trical cables to the back of the terminal. The circuit There is always an octomare guarding the nest
boards also have the letters ODIN etched into them. while maintaining telepathic contact with the others.
Anyone trying to type on the terminal only
receives a prompt asking for the “PASSWORD FOR
TELEGRAPHIST DIRAC THIRTEEN”. It is impossible to
If anyone enters the nest, it calls for help and then
uses its psionic powers to confuse the intruders
until the rest of the octomares show up.
04
get past the prompt without the password, which is In the nest, which resembles a spider’s web of
“AUDHUMBLA”, but there is no way to find that out wires and cables, the PCs can find the following:
without asking Dirac. K A space suit with an armor module and a
When the PCs are in the control room, you can radio transmitter
use the event The Octomares Sneak By (page 57) K A space suit with a radio transmitter
and project nightmares into the PCs’ minds, espe- K A space suit with a machete and a radio
cially the vision of Dirac Thirteen escaping. transmitter
Someone has carved letters into one of the walls. K A laser pistol
The text reads: “NIGHTMARE OROGADO MARS DIRAC 13”. K D6 spare parts
Anyone who succeeds with a KNOW THE ZONE roll K D6 rolls on the scrap list

55
 AD ASTRA

PEOPLE
Below are descriptions of people and creatures the
PCs may encounter on the Idun space station.

OCTOMARES
The squid-­like octomares were designed as weapons,
and terrible ones at that. They are intelligent crea-
THE OCTOMARES tures and over the years have learned to understand
the station that has become their home. They move

04
freely in vacuum and zero gravity and feed on pure
energy, which they absorb from the station’s still
functioning reactor.
The octomares are in telepathic contact with
each other and have offensive psionic powers, with
which they can induce nightmarish hallucinations.
They have no language of their own, communicat-
ing exclusively in mental images, but they have
learned to read during their time on the station.
The octomares on Idun are very lonely and their
telepathically transmitted images convey loneliness,
sadness, and abandonment.
Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 3, Wits 4, Empathy 4
Skills: Move 2, Fight 2, Sneak 4, Comprehend 1
Armor: 6
Weapons: Bite (Weapon Damage 1)
Pack Animal: The octomares share a total of 10 MP, but a
single octomare can only use 1 MP per round. The number
increases by 1 MP for each additional octomare within
Near range. The octomares recover MP by pushing rolls and
always share MP.
Telepathic Link: As a maneuver, an octomare can establish
a telepathic link with a living creature within 20 meters
(also works through walls and space suits). Through this
link it can exchange mental images, including nightmarish
hallucinations.
Nightmares: As an action, an octomare who has established
a telepathic link with another creature can spend any number
of MP to deal that creature an equal amount of damage to
Wits or Empathy.
Terrified Confusion: An octomare who is Broken loses all
telepathic links and performs a final psionic attack. All non-­
mares within Near range must succeed at an ENDURE roll or
lose their next action. Robots are immune.
Free-­Floater: Octomares do not risk Tumbling in zero gravity,
but on the other hand cannot move in Earth’s gravity other
than by crawling slowly.

56
 Idun

For this purpose, the robot is equipped with weapons

as well as the medical equipment required to care
for human soldiers.
If Fyodor inflicts a critical injury on a living
being, the robot will immediately try to stabilize
SPACE LOUSE the victim using its medical equipment. The ambiv-
alence between harming and healing is a big part
of Fyodor’s personality.
Fyodor’s plasma rifle has been out of ammuni-
tion for years, so it uses its battle saw instead.
Attributes: Servos 8, Stability 5, Processor 2, Network 2
Armor: 6
EP: 4
Programs: Assault 4, Shoot 3, Infiltrate 3
Modules: Reactive Armor, EMP Protection
Secondary Functions: Back-­Up System, Medical Unit, Com-
mand Override, Gyroscope (never Tumbles in zero gravity)
Gear: Plasma rifle (mounted, no ammo), battle saw (mounted,
SPACE LICE Gear Bonus +2 damage 3, Arm’s Length range)
Space lice are mites mutated by the retroviruses
and nanosubstances that were used to create the
octomares. They are one meter long with razor-­sharp
jaws which they use to suck up nutrients. They can EVENTS
hibernate in the vacuum of space, covered in frost The old space station still has surprises in store.
crystals, but wake up and attack if they sense the
presence of biological life. FYODOR ATTACKS
If the PCs dock the Mundil­fari to an airlock or any
Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 2
of the holes leading into the station, Fyodor will
Skills: Fight 3, Move 2 try to sneak up on them. It rolls INFILTRATE (Stabil-
Armor: 6 ity) versus the highest SCOUT score in the group to
Weapons: Bite (Weapon Damage 1 and proboscis) attempt a sneak attack. If the robot inflicts a critical
Proboscis: If a space louse deals at least one point of dam- injury, it will try to heal the victim while transmit-
age, it attaches itself to the victim and feeds on its blood, ting sad messages about the transience of life via
automatically inflicting one point of damage per round.
Armor has no effect. The louse does not stop sucking until it is
killed, or the victim is broken.
shortwave radio. Fyodor will not follow the PC into
the station – that would be leaving his post. 04
Free-­Floater: Space lice do not risk Tumbling in zero gravity.
THE OCTOMARES SNEAK BY
One or more of the octomares sneak past the PCs in
FYODOR FJT216 an attempt to reach their ship. But as they sneak by,
Fyodor is a nightmare in mechanical form. Like a they cannot help sending mental visions to everyone
giant spider, it climbs around the outside of the in the vicinity. A PC receiving these images need
station and the asteroid. Most of the time it just only look around to notice the mares. The PCs may
sits there, gazing at the stars, but it springs to life then choose to attack, but if they do not, they can
at any indication of nearby hostiles. open a channel of mental communication instead.
Fyodor is designed to be effective in zero-­gravity The octomares will only fight if they are attacked
combat and for boarding ships and space stations. or if the PCs try to enter their nest.

57
 AD ASTRA
FYODOR

THE OCTOMARES’ VISIONS

K A hideous ape-­ like creature is dis-
turbing you. Disturbing your dreams.
But it has a ship. It could be your way
out of here! Then you see the flame of
the ship’s rocket boosters as it takes
off. The disappointment is crushing.
You could have been on that ship. You
could have been on your way home.
K You are swimming in an endless sea.
It is dark and cold but feels like home.
And far away. The ice above is thick

04
and protective. You miss the protec-
tion of the ice. In front of you, you see
a swarm of friends greeting you with
their tentacles. You are home. But you
know you are not really home – you
are in space, far from home.
K You are fighting for your life under the
stars. You have to use all your arms.
The machine creature is too strong.
You retreat back into the station.

THE OCTOMARES VS FYODOR

As the PCs pass through a breach in the station’s
hull, they see Fyodor and an octomare locked in
silent combat outside. The octomare was trying to
take the Mundil­fari, but Fyodor intercepted it. If the
PCs do not intervene, the octomare breaks free and
lunges at them, but only tries to get back inside.
The octomares may try to sneak past the PCs
once they have entered one of the laboratories. Their
goal is to get to the PCs’ ship and steal it. If the
PCs have neutralized Fyodor, they may succeed.
Otherwise, Fyodor will push them back like so many
times before.

NANITES
The PCs open a cabinet that turns out to be empty,
but there is a fine dust glittering in the light. Sud-
denly the dust reforms into the shape of a semi-­
transparent tentacle of particles. The tentacle lashes
out at the PCs, who must succeed with a MOVE roll
to avoid it. If the tentacle hits the PCs’ space suits,
it dissolves into glitter on the suit’s surface.

58
 Idun

NANITES

This is a nanite swarm that is now eating through

the space suit. At first the suit loses one point of
Armor Rating per minute. Then any modules are dis-
abled, one per minute, and finally there is a hissing
sound as the suit starts leaking. Only D6 minutes
remain until the suit is completely destroyed and
the wearer is exposed to the vacuum of space.
The nanites’ attack cannot be stopped. When
it is over, they resume the form of a fine dust. For-
tunately for the PCs there are other space suits
on the station, but changing suits in a vacuum is
difficult and requires a successful MOVE roll. This
is done while the character is exposed to vacuum
according to the rules on page 101.

EPILOGUE
After leaving Idun, the PCs may set course for Mars
to chase down Dirac Thirteen. If they already have
04
Dirac with them, they can go to Jupiter with the two
things they need: Dirac who knows where to find
the Ad Astra, and ODIN’s memory circuits which can
be used to unlock the Ad Astra. If they have not yet
refueled their ship on Moonbase Selene, they will
have to do that first.
From Idun it takes up to 7 days to reach Mars,
20 days to reach Selene, and 20 days to reach
Jupiter (see the table of solar system distances
on page 110).

59
 Mars

05
MARS
The planet Mars has always tugged at the human more hospitable valley. Some Martians developed a
imagination. But despite all the fantasies, there has superhuman ability to survive on what little oxygen
never been life on Mars – no canals, no flying sau- there was in the thin atmosphere of the Mariner
cers – until the humans arrived, built their domed Valley. The last of these Martians shed their oxygen
cities, and started making the planet more suitable mask generations ago and now call themselves the
to humans, but also adapting humans to the planet. Children of Dust.
The PCs come to Mars in search of Dirac Thir- These days Mars is populated by two major
teen who fled here from the octomares on Idun. groups – the Children of Dust who have lived in the
Dirac has crash-­landed in the Mariner Valley and deep canyons of the Mariner Valley for generations,
the PCs must head down to the surface to find him. and the settlers who have arrived in recent years in
Since the Mundil­fari cannot land on planetary sur- search of artifacts. There is some trade between the
faces, they have to take the space train – a kind groups, but above all their relationship is fraught
of cable car between the surface of Mars and an with conflict and suspicion, sometimes bringing
orbiting satellite. them to the brink of war. At the moment there is a
cautious peace, but the slightest provocation could
reignite hostilities.
THE SITUATION
Long ago, the terraforming of Mars began with the
aim of making the planet habitable for humans.
THE SETTLERS AND THE SPACE TRAIN
The domed cities of Mars were bombed to smith-
05
But the Enclave War put an end to these efforts as ereens during the Enclave War, but one structure
interplanetary nuclear missiles wiped out the huge survived – by some miracle, the great space elevator
terraforming stations. Only on a small part of the connecting the surface of Mars to the moon of Dei-
planet, the deep Mariner Valley, did the terraforming mos remained almost completely intact. However, the
have any effect – plants producing small amounts mighty machinery that powered it was knocked out.
of oxygen were successfully introduced. Without a working space elevator, the Martian surface
The Mariner Valley was terraformed enough was closed to most space travelers, as very few ships
for humans to walk on the valley floor with only were capable of landing on or taking off from a planet.
an oxygen mask. Decades passed and the remain- Ten years ago, Marcus Luger, a mutated bad-
ing humans left their bombed-­out domes for the ger from the asteroid belt, arrived with a vision

61
 AD ASTRA

to reclaim the surface of Mars. Together with a MARS IS BIG

handful of mechanics, he installed new engines on This part of Ad Astra takes place on (and
the remaining cable elevators now known as space above) an entire planet and is divided into
trains and started the Space Train Company with several adventure sites.
weekly departures to and from the Martian surface.
This was the beginning of a gold rush. The
vast majority of ships in the solar system that are
still spaceworthy cannot land on or take off from a Valley. The crash was visible from Orogado and
planetary surface. With the space elevator back in Marcus Luger dispatched an expedition under the
operation, Mars was opened up to artifact hunters cold-­blooded Commander Conrad Frontrik.
from near and far. The bombed-­out dome city of But the ship was empty, except for the traces of
Orogado at the foot of the space elevator, north of a crew member. It was Dirac Thirteen who crashed-­

05
the Mariner Valley, is the center of the gold rush. landed here in his attempt to aerobrake. He was found
A settler community of oxygen tents and unconscious by the Children of Dust from a nearby
patched-­up greenhouses has emerged, with people settlement who cared for him and brought him back
from space stations around the solar system com- to their village. Commander Frontrik was furious
ing here to seek their fortune in the ruins. Over the at the meager find and decided to attack the settle-
years, the conflicts with the Children of the Dust have ment, convinced that the villagers had looted the ship.
become more frequent and many settlers suspect that Bound by a code of honor to care for the wounded,
the best artifacts have been stashed away by them. the children of Dust hid Dirac Thirteen. In his anger,
Frontrik took one of the village’s children hostage.
DIRAC THIRTEEN CRASHES When the PCs arrive, Orogado is under siege.
The already tense situation between the settlers of Director Luger is busy trying to convince the people
Orogado, led by Marcus Luger, and the Children of that the recent attacks by the Children of Dust have
Dust, led by Tinka Korsakoff, is now about to erupt. nothing to do with Commander Frontrik’s escapades
A week ago, a spaceship crashed into the Mariner or the child held hostage.

THE SPACE TRAIN AND SPACEPORT

The space elevator is made up of three compo- docking spacecraft and the space train down to
nents – a cable attached to the ground and ending the surface.
in an anchor far out in orbit, which uses centrif-
ugal force to keep the cable from falling, and
between the ground and the anchor, at the point ARRIVAL AT THE SPACEPORT
where gravity and centrifugal force balances, a The PCs arrive in Mundil­fari in search of Dirac
space station where weightlessness reigns and Thirteen. The space train’s cable glistens in the sun-
spaceships can dock. The capsules of the ele- light, a silvery thread running from distant Deimos
vator travel between the space station and the down to the surface of Mars. As they approach the
planetary surface. small spaceport, they see the space train coming at
During the construction of the space elevator, high speed along the cable and slowing down in a
the moon Deimos had its orbit altered in order shower of sparks before stopping at its terminus.
for it to serve as an anchor for the elevator cable. Once at the spaceport, the PCs can take the
In the weightless space between the anchor and space train down to Mars. They have to buy tickets
the surface of Mars is the spaceport – a terminal in order to do so. The train leaves one day after the
for transferring passengers and cargo between PCs’ arrival.

62
 Mars

LOCATIONS AT THE SPACE TRAIN

Here are a number of places the PC may need to
interact with on the space train and the space station.

THE SPACEPORT
From a distance, the spaceport looks like the ele-
vator cable has tied itself in a knot. Landing struts
and station modules protrude from the cylindrical
station building that surrounds the cable. The train
enters the station through an opening in the bottom.
A relatively laid-­back traffic management team is
usually, but not always, available to guide incoming
ships to the correct landing struts.
There are usually about a hundred people at
the spaceport, most of them passing through. A few
small hotels and bars and an open market called
the Bazaar occupy much of the station. Commerce
is thriving to such an extent that the spaceport has
introduced its own currency, Mars Credits (MCR),
which visitors can exchange money for. A spare
part typically costs one hundred million MCR. The
credits are coins of various denominations and can
also be used in other parts of the solar system.

THE SHIPYARDS
The access to old technology from the Martian sur-
face and the spaceport’s function as a hub for space-
ships has led to the establishment of two competing
shipyards – Juncker’s Crafts and Alheim’s Gear &
Repair. Competition between the two family-­run
shipyards is fierce and there are rumors that they
sometimes go so far as to sabotage each other’s THE BAZAAR
operations.

THE VOID
The spaceport has a few establishments for those in
THE TRAIN STATION
In the middle of the spaceport is the train station,
05
need of refreshment. The most popular one is a bar like a ring-­shaped room around the elevator cable.
called the Void. It is frequented by all sorts of strange It forms an eight-­story cylinder along the cable
characters and things often get lively. Brawls are an with multi-­level airlocks, only two of which are in
everyday occurrence. Like the rest of the station, the use. Dirty windows along the inner wall of the room
bar is weightless and drinks are served in plastic show the dock where the space train stops. Since the
balls with spouts. The weightlessness is also reflected station is in free fall, the PCs can move freely to the
in the interior design, which makes no distinction airlocks. Tickets for the space train are purchased
between floor and ceiling. There seems to be no from the good-­natured Conductor Rosenquist at the
consensus among the patrons about where to hang low price of one spare part per person for second
out, sometimes not even within groups of friends. class or five spare parts for first class.

63
 AD ASTRA

DRIVER’S 1st CLASS

COMPARTMENT LUGGAGE

2nd CLASS
PASSENGERS

05 1st CLASS
SLEEPING CABIN

2nd CLASS
LUGGAGE

ENGINE

CARGO 1st CLASS

HOLD CABIN

THE SPACE TRAIN GLASS

FLOOR

64
 Mars

THE SPACE TRAIN BOUNTY HUNTER CERES FOUR

The two cars of the space train, the old elevator This is not the first time Ceres Four has hunted
capsules, are connected and a locomotive at one end renegades for Refaim. Although he has never set
of the train contains the engine. Since the journey foot on the Eye of Odin, he has worked for Refaim
between the spaceport and the surface of Mars takes many times before.
three days, with half a day’s transshipment at each When he feels subordinate to someone, Ceres
end, there is one departure a week in each direction. is deferential, almost fawning. When he has the
The locomotive has a driver and an engineer. upper hand, he is hard and ruthless and expects total
The upper car is for second-­class passengers obedience. The thing he hates more than anything
and cargo, with room for twelve passengers seated is trying to please someone he despises – then the
in simple folding chairs. The lower car offers up contempt shines through his feigned subservience.
to six first-­class passengers a splendid view of the He speaks in a hissing voice, having survived a stab
Martian surface through a glass floor. The glass is wound to the larynx years ago.
slightly cracked but seems stable. While the train Ceres arrived at the spaceport a few days before
is in motion, passengers can only move between the PCs and, like them, is looking for Dirac Thirteen.
cars by climbing a ladder on the outside, at the risk He does not know that Dirac crashed in the desert
of life and limb. and no longer has ODIN’s memory circuits.
PCs traveling first class share a cabin with
Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 5, Wits 3, Empathy 2
the suspicious Irina Mogens (page 66); if they
choose second class, the people in their cabin Skills: Shoot 3, Fight 2, Scout 3, Sense Emotion 1

include Errol Dunkel (page 67), a chatty zone Animal Powers: Hunting Instincts, Predator
traveler who intends to try his luck in the zone, Weapons: Laser pistol, combat space suit (Armor Rating 6),
and the bounty hunter Ceres Four (to the right). knife, oxygen tent

Feel free to have Irina or Errol explain the situa-

tion on Mars to the PCs. Ceres is quiet and says
he is going to Mars on “business”. Unless the PCs
have been running their mouths about it at the
spaceport, Ceres has no idea that they are after
the same thing – Dirac Thirteen. CERES FOUR

PEOPLE AT THE SPACE TRAIN

Here is a list of people the PCs can interact with at
the spaceport and on the space train.

CONDUCTOR ROSENQUIST
When he is not checking tickets, the jovial and cor-
05
pulent Enoch Rosenquist spends his time trimming
his bushy mustache and polishing his conductor’s
cap. He often frequents the spaceport’s bars, telling
stories he claims to have heard from zone travelers
and other passengers in exchange for a glass of
sulfur beer.
Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 3, Wits 3, Empathy 4
Skills: Sense Emotion 2, Manipulate 1, Comprehend 1
Gear: Mustache wax, tickets

65
 AD ASTRA
IRINA MOGENS

05

BOUNTY HUNTER JALKUT FYLKING Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 5, Wits 2, Empathy 4

Jalkut has been around for a long time and knows
Skills: Fight 2, Drive (page 104) 1, Sense Emotion 3
to stay out of trouble. He has wild gray hair and
Talents: Evasive Maneuver (page 106)
a big drooping mustache. He usually wears the
Animal Powers: Jumper
lining coveralls of a space suit, complete with a
hood from which his shaggy mane sticks out. When Weapons: Space suit (Armor Rating 3), knife, has a shotgun
on her ship but barely knows how to use it
he has nothing better to do, he disassembles and
reassembles his biomechatronic tool hand.
SPACE TRAIN DRIVER ASA ESO
Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 4, Wits 4, Empathy 3
With her spiky hair and cheerful demeanor, the gan-
Skills: Shoot 2, Move 3, Jury-­Rig 2 gly train driver Asa Eso is universally liked by her
Talents: Tinkerer, Fast Draw passengers. She and her wife, the grumpy engineer
Biomechatronics: Tool Hand (+2 Gear Bonus to JURY-­RIG) Tuva Synk, have been running the space train for
Weapons: Space suit (Armor Rating 3), revolver over a decade. It is not unusual for one of them to
be seen climbing fearlessly outside the train to fix
a cable or kickstart an engine during the journey.
TRADER IRINA MOGENS
Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 4, Wits 4, Empathy 3
The mutated toad Irina Mogens has been to most
of the solar system. She has seen the sky cruisers Skills: Drive (page 104) 3, Move 2, Shoot 1

above Venus and been as far out as Titan with her Mutations: Human Magnet
ship, the Gift. She does not have a permanent crew Weapons: Space suit (Armor Rating 3), map of Mars, auto-
but hires the people she needs for different missions. matic pistol

She often travels alone.

Irina is surly and difficult to negotiate with, espe- SPACE TRAIN ENGINEER TUVA SYNK
cially if she feels she is being tricked. But whoever Plump, a bit stocky, and dark-­haired, Train Engineer
gains her trust will have a friend for life. Tuva is quite the opposite of her wife, Asa Eso. She

66
 Mars

swears like a trooper and is generally grumpy, but is careful not to say anything bad about her
no one doubts her skill with engines. Tuva usually employer Marcus Luger.
stays away from the passengers and everyone else K The bounty hunter Jalkut Fylking sits in a corner
for that matter, except Asa. Despite her surly mood with Ceres Four who has hired him to stay at
she always appreciates a compliment, although the spaceport while Ceres heads down to Mars.
she rarely knows how to respond, especially if it is Neither of them wants to talk to the PCs, but
coming from Asa. if the PCs mention Dirac Thirteen, they listen
with feigned disinterest.
Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 4, Wits 3, Empathy 2
K Trader Irina Mogens with her ship the Gift has
Skills: Jury-­Rig 3, Force 2, Endure 1 done business with the Eye of Odin refinery
Mutations: Rot-­Eater but does not know where it is located. All trade
Weapons: Space suit (Armor Rating 3), tools (Gear Bonus +2), takes place in orbit around Jupiter, where a ship
four spare parts from the refinery meets up with her.

ZONE TRAVELER ERROL DUNKEL

The mutated weasel Errol Dunkel is well known TUVA SYNK
in Orogado and among the settlers and the
Children of Dust. He sometimes talks faster
than he thinks, with a distinct lisp. He is an
eternal optimist and gets easily excited about
everything from an excellent sulfur beer at
the Shard to a new find from a ruin in the
dunes. He is also happy to share his ideas
for new inventions, especially if the person
he is talking to knows how to JURY-­RIG,
which unfortunately he himself does not.
Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 4, Wits 2, Empathy 3
Skills: Scout 1, Know the Zone 2, Find the Path 3
Animal Powers: Small ERROL DUNKEL
Weapons: Scrap rifle, space suit (Armor Rating 3)

EVENTS AT THE SPACE TRAIN

Here are some events that could occur
at the spaceport or on the space train. 05
ONE FOR THE ROAD
The PCs can have a drink at the Void
while waiting for the train. Several things
can happen here:
K Space train operators Asa Eso and
Tuva Synk are often at the bar while
the train is being loaded. Tuva
is quiet, but Asa is chatty and
happy to discuss the situation
in the domed city, although she

67
 AD ASTRA

CLIMBING CREW
Suddenly there is a loud bang, and the train car
stops in a shower of sparks. Passengers are thrown
from their seats, and everyone must succeed with
a MOVE roll or suffer one point of damage. Sounds
are heard from outside and engineer Tuva Synk
is seen climbing the train in her space suit. The
speakers crackle with the cheerful voice of train
driver Asa Eso:
“No need to worry, ladies and gentlemen, just a bit
of extra friction. Tuva will have it fixed in no time!”

A CHAT ON THE TRAIN

05 The PCs share a compartment with the scarred zone
traveler and mutated weasel Errol Dunkel. Errol
is chatty and has heard many rumors which he is
happy to relay. This might be a good time to give the
players a few hints on how to get to Dirac Thirteen.
Errol Dunkel knows the following:
THE SPACE TRAIN
K A few days ago, a ship crash-­landed near
one of the Children of Dust’s villages. It is
unclear whether anyone has investigated
the crash site.
K If you want to know anything about zone
travelers or Mars in general, the Shard is
the place to go. That is where all the zone
travelers hang out.
K Orogado is run by Director Marcus Luger
and his henchmen. He claims to own the
railroad and much of the city, and no one
seems to object.
K On the surface of Mars there are Mars
Buses with nomadic Muscovites and Dune
Pirates, as well as abandoned laboratories and
bombed-­out dome cities.
K In the deep, partially terraformed Mariner Valley
live the Children of Dust. They can survive down
there without a space suit, but on the surface,
they need oxygen like everybody else.

Ceres Four, who is also in the cabin, remains quiet

throughout the trip. If he learns that the PCs are
looking for Dirac Thirteen, he takes note of it but
thinks they too are bounty hunters and therefore
competitors.

68
 Mars

THE DOMED CITY

THE CRASH SITE

THE MARINER VALLEY

05
MORNINGLIGHT VILLAGE

69
 AD ASTRA

05

THE DOMED CITY

Orogado was once a beautiful, glittering domed city There are a few hundred people living in the
with buildings made of brownish-­red Martian stone ruins of Orogado. For many it is just a stopover on
and filled with parks and statues. This changed the way to somewhere else. The dominant build-
during the Enclave War when the city was attacked ings are the train station at the foot of the space
from orbit. The dome cracked like an eggshell and elevator, the town hall in the city center, the Shard,
most of the inhabitants died within minutes. and the garrison.
Now the sands of Mars have reclaimed the old Director Luger is the de facto mayor of the city
dome. Sand dunes cover its ruined buildings and and takes his job very seriously. Order is maintained
statues, and withered trees are all that remain of the by Commander Frontrik’s guards, and there is noth-
parks. Among the ruins, inside the circular wall that ing Director Luger loves more than order.
formed the base of the dome, the settlers have built
the new city. Some buildings that were sufficiently
intact have been sealed and pressurized; in other ARRIVAL IN THE DOMED CITY
places they have erected oxygen tents or parked The space train stops at the train station outside
Mars Buses. the city (page 73). Space suits are required to

70
 Mars

move between the buildings, for everyone except

the Children of Dust. Once arrived, the PCs can try
to locate Dirac. If they have not already heard about GUNDA SVYLSE
it on the train, someone at the Shard (page 74)
or the Town Hall (page 75) can reveal that a
spaceship crashed in the Mariner Valley a week ago
and that Director Luger’s henchman Commander
Frontrik has already looked into it, without finding
anything. How the PCs choose to proceed is up to
them, but sooner or later they will probably go to
the Mariner Valley to investigate the crashed ship
and from there find their way to the Children of Dust
and Dirac Thirteen. Meanwhile, tensions between the
inhabitants of the domed city and the Children of
Dust rise over the kidnapped child being held pris- Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 2, Wits 2, Empathy 2
oner in the basement of the Town Hall (page 75).
Skills: Endure 1, Move 1
Biomechatronics: Laser Eye
PEOPLE IN THE DOMED CITY Gear: Revolver, space suit (Armor Rating 3). There are ten
spare parts at the bar.
The domed city is home to a diverse group of
humans, mutants, robots and animals.
NXO313
SETTLERS NXO313, a three-­meter-­tall loading robot constantly
Many of the settlers are zone travelers on their way soiled with Martian sand, works at the train station,
out into the dunes to try their luck in some bombed-­ loading and unloading the space train. Since the
out dome city or research station. Some were born train only comes once a week, NXO has plenty of
on Mars, but the vast majority come from other spare time. The robot spends most of it sitting at
parts of the solar system. the Shard, watching people. It does not drink – it
is a robot after all – but just sits in a corner. This
Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 2, Wits 2, Empathy 2
makes many people uncomfortable at first, but most
Skills: Endure 1, Move 1 of them get used to it after a while. NXO only moves
Mutations: One random mutation at all when it is going to work or thinks someone is
Weapons: Blunt object, space suit (Armor Rating 3) being disruptive – then the robot throws the trou-
blemaker out the airlock without checking if they

BARKEEP GUNDA SVYLSE

Gunda is a wiry woman with more years behind her
have their space suit on.
NXO’s presence makes the Shard a calmer place.
Whenever someone comes in and gets agitated or
05
than ahead of her. She keeps a constant eye (biome- raises their voice, the regulars throw a nervous look
chatronic, glowing red) on her bar and its patrons, at the big robot in the corner.
nipping any trouble in the bud. “You’re gonna have to
Attributes: Servos 5, Stability 3, Processor 1, Network 1
sand wrestle for it,” she says, before having the ever-­
present robot NXO shove the troublemakers out the Armor: 3

door. Gunda is clear about not taking sides in any of Programs: Datamine 2, Force 3, Overload 3
the conflicts in Orogado. Everyone is welcome at the Modules: —
Shard – Dust Children, Frontrik’s goons, and anyone Secondary Functions: Cargo Lift
else, as long as they leave any grudges at the door. Gear: Mounted mast lift (can raise its torso about five meters
Most people respect her wishes, most of the time. to load things onto high shelves)

71
 AD ASTRA

DIRECTOR MARCUS LUGER

The mutated badger Marcus Luger loves order. He
also likes to be in charge, but he mainly wants order
and has realized that to get it, someone has to call
the shots and it might as well be him. The director
DIRECTOR LUGER is getting old, but does not want it pointed out.
He dresses neatly in a worn suit that has taken on
the same reddish-­brown hue as the surrounding
landscape.
The most important thing for the director is that
the trains run on time. He often says that things
are “even more important than the trains running

05
on time,” but only to emphasize the importance of
something.
ANGUS KORSAKOFF
Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 3, Wits 4, Empathy 4
Angus is a Dust Child who has been cast out by
his fellow Children of Dust and is despised by both Skills: Manipulate 3, Sense Emotion 1, Command 2

them and the settlers he now lives among. He will Animal Powers: Burrower
not go into the reason for his banishment, but mut- Weapons: Revolver, space suit (Armor Rating 3)
ters that it was “love affairs” (which is technically
true – Angus was in love with the woman he stole
from). Angus is perpetually broke, but seems to have LUGER’S BITTERHOUNDS
unlimited credit at the Shard. What is not widely Unlike the dogs in the ruins of Earth, Luger’s bit-
known about Angus is that he is the disowned son terhounds are well-­fed with shiny fur and sharp
of village elder Tinka Korsakoff. He now spends teeth. They are quite aggressive and normally kept
his days drunk and complaining to anyone who on a leash, except at night when they guard the
will listen. director’s residence.
Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 2, Wits 2, Empathy 4 Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 4
Skills: Move 1, Comprehend 1, Manipulate 1 Skills: Fight 2, Move 3, Scout 2
Gear: Bottle of booze Weapons: Bite (Weapon Damage 2)

BUS DRIVER JUNKER ABRAHAM LUSIFER BRYLLING

Junker is a mutated dog. Good-­natured and resil- Lusifer is a ten-­year-­old Dust Child who already
ient, he drives his big Mars Bus (page 122) on stands out from the crowd – a head taller and much
demand for those who want it. At the moment he stronger than his playmates. This is because he is
spends most of his time at the Shard, waiting for a one of the few mutated Children of the Dust. Lusifer
client. For one spare part a day he will take anyone has started to develop the Strong mutation, but at
anywhere, except into the Mariner Valley, as it is the moment he does not have much strength left.
a difficult drive and he fears the Children of Dust. Locked up in Orogado’s prison after being abducted
by Commander Frontrik, he is broken by doubt. If
Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 2, Wits 3, Empathy 3
he is HEALED or spends an hour in friendly company,
Skills: Drive (page 104) 3, Know the Zone 2, Shoot 1 he could become a valuable ally. Lusifer is a quiet
Animal Powers: Furry boy. His strength has made other children afraid of
Gear: Mars Bus, shotgun, space suit him, so he rarely uses it.

72
 Mars

Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 2, Wits 2, Empathy 4 (cur- Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 4, Wits 2, Empathy 3
rently 0, Broken)
Skills: Shoot 2, Fight 3, Scout 1
Skills: Fight 2, Move 1, Comprehend 1
Animal Powers: Hunting Instincts
Armor: 0
Gear (outside Orogado): Laser rifle, military space suit
Mutation: Strong. On a successful FIGHT roll against an (Armor Rating 6), oxygen tent
opponent, Lusifer can spend 1 MP to increase damage by one
Gear (in Orogado): Body armor (Armor Rating 3), laser
(even when using a weapon). He can also use 1 MP to auto-
pistol in weapon mount
matically gain an / on FORCE rolls, even after making the roll.

FRONTRIK’S GOONS
The dozen or so goons under Frontrik’s command
look up to him and obey his orders to the letter.
They have few other qualities, as Commander Fron-
trik values loyalty over competence. What they lack
in skill, they make up for in numbers and dirty
tricks. If Frontrik wants them to teach someone
a lesson, they will follow that person until they
are alone, preferably outnumbering the victim at
COMMANDER FRONTRIK least five to one.
Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 4, Wits 2, Empathy 3
Skills: Shoot 2, Fight 3, Scout 1
Mutations: One random mutation
Weapons: Scrap spear, scrap rifle, space suit (Armor Rating 3)

COMMANDER CONRAD FRONTRIK

Commander Conrad Frontrik is a mutated fox. He
is also a sadist who enjoys torturing others. Not LOCATIONS IN THE DOMED CITY
physically, although that is fine too – what he really Some key locations in the dome city are described
wants is to control people and make them feel bad. below. To move between them, the PCs will need to
For this he uses his goons, a sworn group that will go outside (unless otherwise stated), which requires
follow their leader to the death if it comes to that space suits. The buildings are air-­filled and equipped
(and it has come to that). If Frontrik has not tortured with airlocks. Most of the ruins in Orogado are unin-
anyone in a long time, his goons know he will take habited and only a few buildings have been repaired.
it out on them.
Over the years, Frontrik has adopted an exces-
sively aristocratic style with a cigarette holder, a
THE TRAIN STATION
The space train’s elevator cable is anchored to a
05
scarf, and a nasal voice. Anyone foolish enough massive concrete foundation just outside the domed
to make fun of his affected mannerisms will find city. When the space train arrives, workers raise a
themselves high on the long list of people Frontrik ramp to the upper cars so the passengers can make
wants to humiliate. their way down to the arrival hall.
Frontrik really dislikes anyone who is not depen- The arrival hall was once an impressive sight,
dent on him. Although he cannot help respecting with large panoramic windows overlooking the Mar-
such people, like Director Luger or Barkeep Gunda, tian landscape outside. Now it is just a large tent
he is constantly trying to think of ways to force them with airlocks where travelers can change into their
into a position of dependency. spacesuits for a walk into the domed city.

73
 AD ASTRA

SOLAR PANELS

THE SHARD

ELEVATOR WELL HOUSE

05 CABLE GARRISON

TOWN HALL

DIRECTOR LUGER’S
MANSION

TRAIN STATION
THE DOMED CITY

THE WELL HOUSE panels were destroyed in the Enclave War or have
At the center of the domed city is its most important broken down since, but enough of them are intact
building – the well house. A kilometer-­deep borehole or repaired to keep the lights on and the oxygen
leads down to a water deposit, which was the reason pumps running.
why the city was built here. The borehole and pump
are covered by a small concrete well house. On the THE SHARD
outside of the building is a tap where the city’s res- On the outskirts of Orogado, a piece of the shattered
idents fill their water containers. The water is red dome has embedded itself in the sand like a huge
and has a metallic taste, but is perfectly drinkable. windbreak, wedged between two buildings. The
The well house is surrounded by the twisted remains aged barkeeper Gunda Svylse took advantage of
of what was once a park. this to build Orogado’s (in her opinion) finest bar,
the Shard. The wedged shard now forms the roof
THE SOLAR PANELS and one of the walls of the bar. Gunda tries to keep
Just outside Orogado is a solar power plant that her “sun roof” polished, but it is a never-­ending task
supplies the city with energy. Most of the solar and the light in the bar is dim and red.

74
 Mars

The bar is sealed to the atmosphere outside, and TRADING AT THE TOWN HALL
customers are required to leave their space suits At the Town Hall market the PCs can
and weapons in the airlock on the way in. Most buy grub, water, and artifacts, including
people buy drinks on credit and pay with spare parts. things that can be used for expeditions
Those who are not previously known must pay in on the surface of Mars, such as oxygen
advance – one spare part for ten large glasses of tents. They can even rent a Mars Bus from
oozing sulfur beer or five portions of grub. Junker Abraham (page 72).
Many zone travelers gather at the Shard before
heading out on expeditions. It has also become
popular among visiting Children of Dust, although
they tend to keep to themselves. The bar’s regu- also serves as Orogado’s prison. The window hall
lars include the outcast Angus Korsakoff, the robot has three airlocks, but only two of them still work.
NXO, the old zone traveler Errol Dunkel, and more The third is used for storage.
recently the mutated wolf Ceres Four, who sits in The Prison: From the window hall, a spiral stair-
a corner and refuses to discuss why he is here. By case made of concrete leads down to a hallway with
talking to Gunda or her guests, the PCs can find a small cell. In the cell sits Lusifer, a Dust Child
out the following: that Commander Frontrik dragged here a few days
K Director Luger has an imprisoned Dust Child ago (page 72). The cell door is padlocked and
that he does not know what to do with. guarded around the clock by Frontrik’s goons, but
K The Children of Dust are on the warpath after they do not take their duties very seriously and often
being attacked by Frontrik and his goons. sneak off or fall sleep at their post. The lock can be
K A ship crashed and the Dust Children took care picked with a JURY-­RIG roll or broken with FORCE.
of it, which Mayor Luger was not happy about. It is also possible to steal the key from the guard.
Apparently, there was a survivor who is now
being cared for by the Children of Dust. GARRISON
After Luger’s Mansion and the Town Hall, the gar-
DIRECTOR LUGER’S MANSION rison is the largest surviving building in Orogado.
Director Luger has had one of the city’s old houses This says more about the rest of the city than the
sealed and repaired. The mansion, as he likes to call it, garrison, which is actually a rather small, bunker-­
is the largest inhabited building in Orogado. A large like building made of red-­black Martian basalt. The
airlock leads into a hallway from which the kitchen, building is dominated by a protruding airlock large
dining room, bedroom, and study can be accessed. At enough for a cargo robot to pass through. Once
night the director lets his dogs run free, and if they bark, through the airlock, visitors enter a spacious cham-
he immediately wakes up and can use a landline in ber with a ceiling height of almost three meters.
his study to call for reinforcements from the garrison.

THE TOWN HALL

Dusty, rust-­colored plastic sheets have been hung
from the ceiling as room dividers, and the floor
is littered with various items confiscated by the
05
This octagonal, 20-meter-­wide building serves as commander and his goons. The PCs can find the
a gathering place, prison, ticket office, and market- following at the garrison:
place. The building was originally Orogado’s control K Oxygen tents
room and has windows on all sides. Miraculously, K Two space suits (in addition to those belong-
they are all intact. The building is located in the ing to Frontrik and his goons)
city center, next to the well house. K Laser rangefinder
The Window Hall: Most of the Town Hall is one K Ten rations of grub and an equal amount
big room. Everyday artifacts, food, and other items of water
are traded here. In the middle of the window hall K A rusty revolver with Gear Bonus +1 out of
is a staircase leading down to the basement, which a maximum of +3

75
 AD ASTRA

A BUSLOAD OF PLAGUE
EVENTS IN THE DOMED CITY A Mars Bus (page 122) arrives from the desert. This
The domed city of Orogado is an eventful place in itself is not unusual, but this time the bus stops in
where a lot can happen. The events may be related the middle of the village without anyone getting off.
or unrelated to the search for Dirac Thirteen. Eventually a door opens and a person in a space suit
takes a few steps before collapsing to the ground.
ARE YOU NEW AROUND HERE? The space bus driver is infected with a gruesome
While in Orogado, the PCs are confronted by Frontr- disease from a lab they looted a few days earlier.
ik’s goons. They are threatening and demand “taxes” Through the visor, the PCs can see the dying man’s
(a valuable item will do). If the PCs give in, the thugs boil-­covered face and almost hear his agonized cries
will come back later for more. If the PCs resist, they for help. But he is beyond saving and dies after a few
must succeed at MANIPULATE to get the goons to leave minutes. The driver was the only person to survive

05
them alone – otherwise they will be followed and this long. There are two more travelers in the bus,
attacked at some point when they are outnumbered. a man and a woman, both dead in their space suits.
Anyone exposed to the air inside the victims’
TAILED BY CERES space suits or the items in the Mars Bus contracts
If Ceres finds out that the PCs are looking for Dirac, the Martian Plague (see box). Those who succeed
he will follow them, even if they leave Orogado. He with a KNOW THE ZONE roll know that the harmful
wants to find Dirac and bring him back to the Eye pathogens can be removed from the items by disin-
of Odin to get his reward. If the PCs travel with fecting them with alcohol. Among the contaminated
Dirac, Ceres will try to kidnap him. He also tries items on the bus, the PCs can find:
to follow the PCs onto the space train (see Return K A jar of tranquilizers
to Orbit on page 83). K A jar of painkillers
K A comic book
THE CHILDREN OF DUST ATTACK
A group of about twenty Dust Children attack Oro- No one in Orogado wants anything to do with the
gado with spears and slings. Their goal is to free the bus, so the PCs can keep it if they want.
prisoner Lusifer Brylling, who they know is locked
up in the Town Hall prison. Commander Frontrik’s
men defend the city and will drive the Children of
Dust away unless the PCs intervene. THE MARTIAN PLAGUE
The laboratories of Mars contain a ver-
WATER SHORTAGE sion of the Red Plague that laid waste to
The unthinkable happens – the pump in the well the Earth. Anyone exposed to the disease
breaks. Panic quickly spreads through the city. Ten- must make an ENDURE roll. On failure,
sion rises around the small well house and Direc- boils appear on the body and the victim
tor Luger tries to calm the people with the help of suffers one Rot Point. The victim must
Commander Frontrik and his goons. then make another ENDURE roll every day.
Anyone who succeeds with a JURY-­RIG roll can Each failure adds another Rot Point. Once
get the pump running again, but every gearhead in a roll succeeds, the victim recovers and
the city has tried and failed – except the PCs. If they can stop rolling. If someone else man-
fail as well, water rationing is imposed, and plans ages to HEAL the victim, that also means
are made to look for spare parts on the surface of the patient is cured. Anyone who has
Mars or search for water in the Mariner Valley. suffered at least two Rot Points from the
If the water shortage persists throughout the PCs’ Martian Plague can infect other creatures
stay in the city, the situation becomes increasingly within Near Range, who must then roll for
desperate and erupt in violence after a few days. ENDURE as above.

76
 Mars

ZONE TRAVEL ON MARS

LEAVING THE DOMED CITY Traveling through the reddish-­brown desert landscape of
In the domed city, the PCs can learn Mars is just as dangerous as making one’s way through
that Dirac Thirteen is not here and the rot-­ridden ruins of Earth. Anyone traveling on the
never was. However, a ship recently surface needs a space suit and a source of oxygen – usu-
crashed on the surface of Mars, not ally an oxygen catalyst (page 122) and either a Mars
far from the Mariner Valley. It takes Bus (page 122) or an oxygen tent (page 121) to
about two days to walk from Orogado sleep in. The skill FIND THE PATH can be used as usual.
to the Mariner Valley, or barely a day
by Mars Bus.

THE SURFACE OF MARS

The air outside the Mariner Valley is too thin to range and all ranged attacks are performed with a −2
breathe and contains no oxygen. The ubiquitous penalty. Anyone wishing to move during a sandstorm
sand ranges from coarse gravel to fine dust that must succeed with an ENDURE roll.
finds its way everywhere. Frequent sandstorms
reduce visibility to a couple of meters and clog all DUNE PIRATES
equipment. A sand cloud on the horizon reveals rapidly
On the surface and in the tunnels below approaching dune pirates in open Mars Buggies
there are abandoned research stations, bombed-­ and patched-­up space suits. With scrap rifles and
out dome cities, crashed spaceships, and other machetes, they attack in search of oxygen and
ruins from the days of the Enclave War. It is these artifacts.
sites that are attracting zone travelers in search
Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 5, Wits 2, Empathy 3
of ancient finds.
Skills: Shoot 3, Fight 2, Jury-­Rig 1
Mutations: One random mutation
EVENTS ON THE SURFACE Weapons: Bicycle chain, scrap rifle, vacuum-­resistant scrap
Many of the events and threats described under armor (Armor Rating 3)

zone travel on Earth (see Mutant: Year Zero) are

also applicable to Mars, but below are a few events MUSCOVITES
specific to the red planet. A convoy of Muscovite buses has made camp for

SANDSTORM
In the distance you can see a kilometer-­high wall of
the night and the PCs are invited to share bread,
water, and stories. The Muscovites are nomads,
more peaceful than the dune pirates but not
05
sand clouds sweeping across the plain. Sandstorms entirely harmless. They travel the surface of Mars
arrive about ten minutes after the first warning, but in Martian Buses, living off the land and whatever
move too fast for anyone to avoid them. they can acquire through trade with settlers and
Dust Children.
Effect: During a sandstorm, any unprotected techni-
Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 4, Wits 3, Empathy 5
cal equipment automatically loses one point of Gear
Bonus. Technical items also lose one point of Gear Skills: Know the Zone 3, Move 2, Shoot 1

Bonus for each rolled, whether the roll is pushed Mutations: One random mutation
or not, if used unprotected in a sandstorm. Until the Weapons: Space suit, scrap rifle
storm passes, the PCs can only see things within Near

77
 AD ASTRA

SANDSLIDE ABANDONED MARS BUS

The terraforming of Mars has loosened rocks and The PCs find an abandoned Mars Bus with its doors
sand that have not moved for millions of years. Sud- open and the interior covered in Martian dust. The
denly, a wave of sand and rock crashes down on the passengers are still inside in their spacesuits, dead
unprotected travelers. from rot.

Effect: The PCs must succeed with a MOVE roll Effect: The bus’s power source has failed and is
to escape the sandslide. Extra / can be used to now spreading one Rot Point per day to everyone
help those who fail. Anyone who fails suffers an within Near range. There is contaminated grub
attack with eight Base Dice (Weapon Damage 1) and water inside and anyone searching the vehi-
and is buried alive. Digging up a victim requires a cle may roll twice on the scrap table. The bus can
successful FORCE roll with Gear Bonus from tools. be repaired with a successful JURY-­RIG roll and a

05
If this roll fails, the buried person dies from lack of day’s work.
oxygen before help arrives.

THE MARINER VALLEY

The Mariner Valley is a huge canyon system that have often fought against aggressive settlers who
runs along the Martian equator, 4000 kilometers refused to turn back.
long, 100 kilometers wide, and up to 10 kilometers The climate in Mariner Valley is different
deep. The PCs can come here in search of Dirac from the rest of Mars. The temperature on the
Thirteen’s crashed ship. If they traveled by Mars Martian surface ranges from −70 to +100 degrees
Bus, they must now continue on foot as the canyons Celsius, but since the air is so thin, the actual
are too steep. temperature does not really matter. Down in the
In the Mariner Valley, the terraforming of Mars Mariner Valley, especially in the deep canyons,
has borne fruit. The air at the bottom of the valley the weather is more Earth-­like with temperatures
is still thinner than on Earth’s highest peaks, but dropping to −20 degrees Celsius on a winter
those with the right gear can live here without space night and rising to 40 degrees on a summer’s
suits, and the Children of Dust can even survive day. The difference in temperature between night
without oxygen masks. and day is large – there can be frost even on a
On the valley floor there are patches of hardy summer night.
grass, shrubs, and even the occasional tree. Although In the deepest parts of the valley where the
the landscape is reminiscent of a rocky desert on weather is much like Earth’s, rain and snow have
Earth, it is the most hospitable area on Mars. created streams and small lakes, often surrounded
The entire Mariner Valley is partially terrafor- by grass and gnarled little trees.
med, but the results are most noticeable in the
deep ravines in the northern part of the area. The
bottom of said ravines looks more like a prairie, LOCATIONS IN THE MARINER VALLEY
with occasional groves of trees and surface water The PCs can descend into the valley via one of the
in the form of streams and small lakes. There are steep paths. The place where Dirac’s ship crashed is
more Mars-­adapted animals here than in the rest about a day’s walk away in the rugged terrain, and
of the valley. the Dust Child village of Morninglight is another
A few paths lead down to the Dust Children’s half day’s walk from there.
settlements. Along these paths, the Children of Dust

78
 Mars
THE MARINER VALLEY

THE CRASH SITE

Dirac’s spaceship has torn a deep groove in the sand
that ends at a cliff. The ship is almost completely
destroyed. Pieces of the reactor are scattered along
with other parts of the ship up to a hundred meters
from the crash site. Only the capsule where the pilot
was sitting seems reasonably intact, albeit badly
dented and with an open hatch.
The leaking reactor is contaminating the area
with one Rot Point per hour. Tracks from the crash
site can be followed to the village of Morninglight
without any rolls, but a successful SCOUT roll reveals
that someone has opened the capsule from the inside
and that others have already searched the place.

MORNINGLIGHT VILLAGE
The closest settlement to Orogado is called Morn-
inglight by the Dust Children. The village lies in
a ravine, high up the pass that connects the Dust
Children’s valleys to the plateau where the space
elevator is located – so high up that even the Dust
Children have trouble breathing there. The reason
that the village was established at such an altitude
is that the inhabitants are tasked with keeping an
eye on the settlers and reporting via semaphore if
anything suspicious happens. There is also a lot of
unofficial trade with the settlers.
The Children of Dust live in caves in the canyon
walls. There are rope ladders leading down from the
edge of the ravine to ledges outside their dwellings.
Sheets of canvas are stretched across the ravine to
absorb moisture from the atmosphere. This high
up in the Mariner Valley, the air is dry, cold, and
thin, but still has enough oxygen for the Children
of Dust to stay there without suits.
The village of Morninglight was recently
attacked by Director Luger’s right-­hand man Con-
05
rad Frontrik and his goons (see The Situation on
page 61) as they were looting the crashed ship.
Two of the village’s warriors were killed in the attack
and a child was taken prisoner. Discussions are now
underway about how to free the child, with opinions
ranging from the hot-­tempered Jon Esso, who wants
to assemble an army of Dust Children from across
the Mariner Valley, to Village Elder Korsakoff, who
favors a diplomatic approach.

79
 AD ASTRA

ENCOUNTER WITH The only exception is when they need to get

DIRAC THIRTEEN to the city of Orogado on the high plateau. There
The villagers are suspicious of the PCs the air is too thin even for them and they have to
but can be won over with a successful wear oxygen masks. While on the surface they use
MANIPULATE roll. The PCs are then taken Bedouin-­like clothing made of fabric and plastic.
to the only dwelling in the village with The Children of Dust take pride in not needing
an airlock. suits or mask to survive on the surface, and many
There they meet the badly injured of them, especially the young, often refrain from
Dirac Thirteen, who is still recovering wearing proper protective equipment despite the
from the critical wounds he sustained risks. They can breathe oxygen at normal pressure
in the crash and has difficulty walking. but complain that it is like “breathing soup”.
He explains that a man the villagers call
Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 3, Wits 2, Empathy 2

05
Commander Conrad Frontrik came to the
village a few days ago asking for the pas- Skills: Know the Zone 2, Scout 1, Move 1, Fight 1

senger of the crashed ship. Apparently, it Gear: Scrap spear, dust suit (Armor Rating 3)
is customary among the Children of Dust
to care for the wounded, so village elder
Tinka lied so she would not have to hand VILLAGE ELDER TINKA KORSAKOFF
Dirac over to the brutal Frontrik. The sit- Village Elder Tinka leads her village with the nat-
uation turned violent, but the villagers ural confidence of someone whose position is their
managed to drive Frontrik’s soldiers away. birthright. It is obvious to her that some people are
Dirac knows that the machine intelli- born to lead and others to follow, and that these
gence ODIN is needed to run Ad Astra’s
Astra’s traits are passed down through generations.
advanced core engine, which is precisely Tinka only has one son, Angus Korsakoff, who is
why he stole it. He does not have the banished from the village and spends his days drink-
memory circuits, however, but left them ing at the Shard in Orogado. Afraid that Angus might
on the Idun space station (the PCs may return and drag the Korsakoff name through the mud,
already have been there and might have she is secretly searching for artifacts that could make
brought the circuits here). Dirac also her immortal and allow her to lead the village forever,
knows the exact coordinates of the Eye even though she is not even 40 years old.
of Odin and is happy to take the PCs The search for artifacts goes against the Dust
there – if they take him with them on Children’s tradition of avoiding old technology
their spaceship. and has also brought Tinka into conflict with the
artifact-­hunting settlers. The rumors that the Chil-
dren of Dust have the best artifacts are not entirely
unfounded. In her quest for the fountain of youth,
Tinka has collected a bunch of items that at least
PEOPLE IN THE MARINER VALLEY look advanced, but has not been able to use any of
The PCs can encounter the following people in the them to extend her life.
Mariner Valley. If a PC gains Tinka’s trust, she can show them
some of the artifacts, hoping that the PC will help
THE CHILDREN OF DUST her understand how they work.
The Children of Dust, also known as the Dust Chil-
Attributes: Strength 1, Agility 3, Wits 3, Empathy 5
dren, have lived on Mars for generations, in settle-
ments hidden among the rocks in the northern part Skills: Manipulate 2, Sense Emotion 1, Comprehend 1,
Heal 1
of the vast Mariner Valley. They live off the land
Gear: Dust suit (Armor Rating 3)
and eschew most technological advances.

80
 Mars

VILLAGE ELDER TINKA

DIRAC THIRTEEN from the octomares (page 50) and scarred by

The mutated ape Dirac Thirteen was a young tech- burns from the crash.
nician on Jotun­heim who chose to follow Refaim to The PCs find Dirac wearing the lining coveralls
the Eye of Odin and the Ad Astra, but he was always of a space suit. He is normally quite calm, but the
suspicious of the Odinites (page 8). recent upheavals and hardships have taken their
Dirac is not a typical rebel. Being a techni- toll on him, and he is now nervously fiddling with
cian, he seeks to create technical solutions and things as he talks.
has done so for many years as a Shipwright and
Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 4, Wits 5, Empathy 1
Refiner. When he accidentally received the mes-
sage from Jotun­heim, something snapped inside Skills: Jury-­Rig 3, Comprehend 3, Sense Emotion 1

him. Now he is filled with bitterness towards his Animal Powers: Climber
boss, Refaim. He is also plagued by nightmares Gear: Tattered flight suit, calculator, space suit

TINKA’S ARTIFACTS
OTHER LIFE IN THE MARINER VALLEY
Humans are not the only species that has adapted
to the partially terraformed Mars. Wildlife is
05
In a secret compartment in her house, scarce, even in Mariner Valley, but it does exist.
Tinka has collected several artifacts, Local versions of creatures from Mutant: Year Zero
including: can be found in the maze-­like canyons, such as
K Six cans of soda, two of them zone rats, grazers, bitterbeasts, deathworms, zone
opened spiders, rot ants, zone leeches, and nightmare
K A jar of stimulants flowers. The PCs may also encounter wander-
K A dose of REGEN ing or stationary robots all over Mars, like the
K An exercise bike (+1 Gear Bonus to automatons in Mutant: Year Zero (or any robot
ENDURE if used every day) from Mutant: Mechatron).
K A pair of sunglasses

81
 CERES FOUR ATTACKS

AD ASTRA

EVENTS IN THE MARINER VALLEY

Below are things that can happen on the way down
to, or back from, the village of Morninglight. Feel
free to use events from Mutant: Year Zero as well.

A WARNING
Far up the valley, Commander Frontrik has left a
warning for the Children of Dust – a skull on a stick,
wrapped in typical Dust Child clothing.

THE BEAST

05
A beast from the bottom of the Mariner Valley has
made its way up the pass and caught one of the
Dust Children, who is now dangling from its jaws.
The beast is a rust-­colored reptile the length of
two mutants, with razor-­sharp teeth. It intends to
take the Dust Child to its nearby lair and feed the
hapless victim to its hatchlings. The Dust Child is
still alive, for now, as the young ones like to play
with their food before eating it. If attacked, the beast
drops its prey and defends itself.
Attributes: Strength 6, Agility 5
Skills: Fight 3, Sneak 4
Armor: 2
Weapons: Claws (Weapon Damage 1), bite (Weapon
Damage 3, but can only be used if the victim is unaware of
the attack). If a bite succeeds, the victim is stuck and suffers
1 point of damage per round. To break free, the victim (or a
companion) must succeed with a FORCE roll (modification −2).
Each roll counts as an action. EPILOGUE
CERES FOUR ATTACKS Dirac Thirteen knows where the Eye of Odin is, but
If the PCs have not traveled discreetly, Ceres Four also realizes that he needs the memory circuits to
(page 65) has been following them from a dis- negotiate with Refaim. If the PCs do not already
tance. As they reach Dirac Thirteen, or when they have them, they must first go to Idun. The space
leave the village, he ambushes them and tries to kill train departs from Orogado once a week and is
everyone except the ape, who is to be taken alive. effectively the only way to get back to the space-
port. As they board the train, the PCs may have to
disguise or hide Dirac Thirteen, who has a price on
LEAVING THE MARINER VALLEY his head and might attract attention.
With Dirac in tow, the PCs can return to Orogado If for some reason the PCs have Frontrik on their
the way they came. From Orogado they can take heels (page 73), he will try to intercept them
the space train back into orbit, but may need to on their way to the space train. However, it would
look out for Frontrik and his goons who are still take a lot for the train not to leave – Director Luger
looking for Dirac. thinks it is crucial that the train runs on time, even
if Frontrik is looking for Dirac.

82
 Mars

RETURN TO ORBIT ONWARD

If Ceres Four has not yet attacked, or if the PCs When the PCs arrive at the spaceport, probably with
have managed to shake him without killing him, Dirac in tow, the Mundil­fari is waiting for them in
he will try to board the same train as the PCs, but the dock as before. If the PCs have already been to
in the other car. He will then try to hijack the train Idun and picked up ODIN’s memory circuits, they
and force the PCs to hand over Dirac.
The PCs realize this when they see the wolf in
a space suit climbing on the outside of the train
can now go to the Eye of Odin on Jupiter and try
to retrieve the core engine. The voyage takes 24
days (page 110), and they will not have enough
05
cars. They may then choose to go after him (each reactor fuel to get there unless they have visited
car has an airlock, and they have their space suits). Moonbase Selene on Luna (page 35).
In that case, a fight could take place on the outside. If the PCs have not yet been to Idun, Dirac
Any attempt to move on the outside of the train explains that that is where they will find ODIN’s
requires a FORCE roll. If it fails, it takes a successful circuits. The trip to Idun only takes seven days, but
MOVE roll not to fall. it might be worth refueling at Luna first if they have
If Ceres Four reaches the locomotive, he forces not already, since it will otherwise be impossible for
the drivers to stop the train. He then tells the PCs them to reach Jupiter from Idun.
to hand over Dirac, or he will disconnect their cars
and send them plummeting to the surface of Mars.

83
 The Eye of Odin

06
THE EYE OF ODIN
(JUPITER)
Hidden in the eternal clouds of Jupiter’s upper The Ad Astra is supposed to take eighteen select
atmosphere is the gas refinery known as the Eye humans in cryogenic coffins to the distant galaxy
of Odin – a web of platforms, ladders, and bridges, of Proxima Centauri and the Earth-­like planet that
suspended by giant hydrogen balloons. The Refin- astronomers believe awaits them there. Construction
ers, the esteemed workers entrusted with the old of the ship was begun decades ago by the Odinites,
machines, are working around the clock to extract renegades from the Jotun­heim space station. When
helium-3 from the gas giant’s atmosphere. they arrived at what would become the Eye of Odin,
The PCs come here after a hunt across the solar the refinery was in a terrible state. They repaired
system, probably accompanied by Dirac, to find it and started up the machines. Using the reactor
and retrieve the core engine. They can try to nego- fuel from the refinery as a bargaining chip, they
tiate with Refaim using ODIN’s memory circuits as collected parts for the Ad Astra.
a bargaining chip or sneak in and steal the nearly Today there are a few hundred humans and
completed starship or remove the core engine. mutants living on the Eye of Odin. Most of their
time is spent working at the refinery and completing
the Ad Astra. Refaim, who once led the exodus from
06
THE SITUATION Jotun­heim, still controls both the refinery and the
Ships filled with helium-3 depart from the refinery construction with a combination of charisma, a firm
every week, headed for the moons of Jupiter and hand, and the invocation of the godlike machine
further into the solar system. This has made the Eye intelligence ODIN. Opposition to or doubts about
of Odin known throughout the inner solar system the grand plan is not tolerated.
– many reactors would run out of fuel if the ships Odinites and selected Refiners used to be taken
from Jupiter stopped coming. And yet few people to the Temple every day – the chamber in the Ad
know where in Jupiter’s vast atmosphere the station Astra where ODIN was installed. There they would
is located. Even fewer know about the ship being listen to the machine intelligence’s calculations,
built there. philosophies, strategies, and sermons. These were

85
 AD ASTRA

often ambiguous and riddled with allegory, but the WITHOUT SPACE SUITS
rituals helped maintain unity and order at the refin- Unlike most other places in the solar
ery. Since Dirac stole ODIN’s memory circuits, the system, there is no need for space
sermons have stopped, and unrest has begun to suits on the Eye of Odin, as the atmo-
spread among the Refiners. spheric pressure is about the same as
on Earth. However, the atmosphere is
ODIN’S DISAPPEARANCE not breathable – it lacks oxygen, and
The Ad Astra is almost finished, ready to carry its the vapors can be corrosive. Moreover,
passengers to the stars. The only thing missing the temperature varies tremendously,
is its brain, the machine intelligence ODIN. The from −80 degrees Celsius to scorching
complex core engine cannot run without it, and “lava winds” that sometimes rise from
ODIN is trapped in a memory circuit (which is in the lower gas layers.

06
the possession of Dirac Thirteen and by now prob- Anyone wearing only an oxygen mask
ably the PCs). rather than a full-­body suit must make an
Discontent is brewing among the refinery’s ENDURE roll every hour and suffers one
workers and shipbuilders. There are rumors of point of damage on failure. The refiners
Dirac’s escape with ODIN and that there may not be have adapted to the harsh conditions and
a voyage to the stars. But since no one dares stand do not need to roll as long as they have
up to the Odinites, their work continues unabated, access to oxygen.
even though many are clenching their fists in their
space suits. The Odinites themselves are even more
upset, alternating between rage and resignation at
the abduction of their central figure. came to the Eye of Odin. They contain the Asmegir,
the chosen ones. For the background regarding the
LIVING ON JUPITER Asmegir, see page 6.
Jupiter is a gas giant and consists of gas under The Asmegir who will accompany the Ad Astra
increasing pressure the lower one gets in the atmo- are in their cryobeds, fully grown but unconscious.
sphere. There may be a core deep inside, but anyone Refaim has also provided the ship with robots to
trying to reach it will be crushed by the immense protect them – the so-­called Guardians.
pressure, so no one can actually live on Jupiter.
Instead, the Eye of Odin is located in the planet’s
upper atmosphere, suspended from giant balloons THE PLAYER CHARACTERS’ PLAN
and shrouded in constant clouds. Visibility varies Dirac and the PCs’ goal is to steal the core engine
from a few hundred meters to just a few meters as and bring it back to Jotun­heim to save the station
the refinery floats through different layers of clouds. from burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere. The
The gas gives the air an orange hue. core engine is mounted in the starship Ad Astra
Since gravity here is more than twice as strong but cannot run without ODIN. If the PCs have ODIN
as on Earth, all MOVE or FIGHT rolls are modified by with them, they can start the engine, but first they
−1. Each failure to MOVE means that the person falls will have to get there. Feel free to have the PCs
over and suffers one point of damage. discuss their plan with Dirac during their long
voyage to Jupiter.
ASMEGIR – THE STARFARERS
The Refiners understand that not everyone can go INFORMATION FROM DIRAC THIRTEEN
with the Ad Astra. The mysterious cryobeds that If the PCs managed to bring Dirac Thirteen alive
Refaim brought from Jotun­heim are too few. What from Mars, he can tell them a lot about the Eye of
they do not know is that none of them are supposed Odin. You can give them the map of the Ad Astra.
to go. The cryobeds were not empty when Refaim Specifically, Dirac knows that:

86
 The Eye of Odin

THE GONDOLA SHIPS than travel to the stars. It will not be easy, but
The Eye of Odin is not the only station might be possible – if not by argument, then per-
in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Once there haps by threat.
were several of them floating around in
the atmosphere, occasionally coming STARTING A REBELLION
together for trade and other exchanges. By starting a rebellion among the Refiners, the PCs
Many of these were military stations, oth- can take control of the Eye of Odin and therefore
ers were industries of various kinds like the Ad Astra. The refinery is a powder keg ready
the Eye of Odin. Research stations were to explode. A successful MANIPULATE roll (+2 if they
also suspended at different heights in the have Dirac Thirteen and ODIN’s circuits with them)
gas giant’s turbulent winds. may be all it takes to set off a wave of protest that
No one knows how many of these soon spreads out of control. The Odinites’ response
platforms remain. Most other Jovians will be slow and uncoordinated, but brutal. Their
view the Eye of Odin and the Odinites contempt for the inferior mutants becomes evident
with great suspicion, but sometimes have as they turn their laser weapons on the crowds. In
no choice but to trade with them. From the ensuing chaos, the PCs can sneak up to the Ad
time to time, the Eye of Odin is visited Astra, but may have to deal with angry Refiners or
by gondola ships with their cigar-­shaped ruthless Odinites along the way.
balloons and giant propellers traveling
through Jupiter’s sea of clouds.
ARRIVAL
The orange haze of Jupiter appears and slips away
like flames in an open fire as your ship descends
K The Mundil­fari will not be able to take off once through the atmosphere. As the veils are pushed aside,
it has landed. It takes exceptionally powerful what was hidden is revealed – the Eye of Odin refinery.
engines to escape Jupiter’s gravity well. Suspended in the atmosphere under giant balloons,
K The Ad Astra can be entered from above or below. an entire city of rust-­brown steel columns, pipes, and
K The core engine is mounted at the bottom. ducts emerges from the mist. Reddish-­brown smoke
K ODIN can be installed in Mimir’s Well, the ship’s billows from its frozen chimneys. A crackling voice
computer room. from the radio cuts through the howling wind sur­
K The Guardians are harmless as long as no one rounding the hull.
damages the ship. “Unknown spacecraft, identify yourself immedi­
K There are anti-­aircraft guns protecting the land- ately or we will open fire.”
ing platform.

STEALING THE AD ASTRA

Stealing a starship is no easy task, but having a
”IDENTIFY YOURSELVES!”
Any ship that comes near the Eye of Odin is
contacted and asked to identify itself. If the PCs
06
technician certainly helps. Dirac knows the ship come up with a plausible lie about the purpose of
can be entered through a maintenance hatch in the their visit (e.g. that they are gas traders or bounty
engine compartments. Once the PCs have stolen hunters coming to deliver Dirac), they can make
the Ad Astra, they can choose to take the ship to a MANIPULATE roll. You can adjust the difficulty of
Jotun­heim or follow Refaim’s dream of traveling to the roll depending on how convincing their lie is.
Proxima Centauri. If the PCs succeed they get permission to land,
otherwise they risk being shot at by the refinery’s
MAKING REFAIM RETURN anti-­aircraft guns. If Dirac Thirteen is on the ship,
If the PCs get hold of Refaim, they may be able to he can suggest that they pose as technicians, add-
convince him that it is better to save Jotun­heim ing +2 to the roll.

87
 AD ASTRA

06

88
 The Eye of Odin

THE APPROACH Meter-­thick hoses run from the platforms down

If their cover holds, the PCs can attempt to land into the gas layers below the refinery, sucking up gas
without being shot at. However, if they are deemed which is later refined in giant, rusty metal columns
hostile or dive under the platform towards the Ad rising above the floats. The Refiners are making
Astra, they will be fired upon by anti-­aircraft guns, constant repairs and adjustments. The finished gases,
which have time to fire three salvos (below). especially the reactor fuel helium-3, are stored in
Landing the Mundil­fari requires a difficult DRIVE metal tanks under the refinery pending shipment
roll (−1 plus Gear Bonus from the ship’s Engine). On to destinations throughout the solar system.
failure, the ship crashes and is completely destroyed,
although the crew survives unscathed. THE SPACEPORT
On one of the upper platforms there are four land-
ing pads for spaceships. Two of them are occupied
LOCATIONS by large cargo ships that the Odinites use to ship
The Eye of Odin is built in tiers. At the top are the helium-3 to their trading partners. These ships are
floats – the dozens of giant balloons that keep the specially built with very powerful engines that allow
station floating in the atmosphere. The balloons are them to take off in Jupiter’s gravity. One of them has
attached to a sprawling collection of footbridges its cargo tanks filled with helium-3, the other is empty.
and landing areas known among the residents as Anyone trying to steal a spaceship will have to
the Platform. Finally, the starship Ad Astra hangs sneak past or defeat a group of guards watching the
like a gondola underneath the entire refinery, ready area. If the PCs take off without permission, they
for its voyage to the stars. also risk being shot at by anti-­aircraft fire. The two
ships have the same stats as the merchant ship
THE FLOATS Verdandi (page 117).
The giant balloons holding the Eye of Odin aloft
undulate in the gas currents. Keeping them filled THE AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM
with gas and repairing them is a never-­ending task The Eye of Odin once had an extensive air defense
for the Refiners. Without them, the entire refinery system, built after the Enclave Wars. Parts of that sys-
would plunge into Jupiter’s atmosphere and be tem were destroyed in an attack several decades ago.
crushed by the pressure. The remaining air defense consists of two cannons,
A targeted attack on the floats would sink the each mounted on a rotating turret, positioned at the
entire refinery. However, the balloons are durable center of the platform. One can fire at ships approach-
and divided into sections, so it takes hours before ing from above and the other at ships approaching
they collapse completely. In the meantime, the air from below. The cannons are of the same type as
defense system makes short work of the attacker. Big Bert on Jotun­heim, but slightly less powerful.

THE PLATFORMS
Parts of the old fleet that once departed from Jotun­
Getting to the air defense system is easy for
anyone who knows the way or asks around. The
cannons are openly mounted in their gyroscopic
06
heim have merged with the modules already present at turrets. Each of them is manned by a gunner, a
the refinery. Together they form a jumble of footbridges loader, and a mechanic who keeps the machinery
and platforms that is the skeleton of the Eye of Odin. in good working order. The gunner is usually an
These platforms are constantly being rebuilt Odinite and the other two Refiners.
and repaired. Jupiter’s atmosphere is a harsh envi- The anti-­aircraft guns fire with six Base Dice.
ronment with unforgiving gravity, and sometimes Because of the limited visibility in Jupiter’s atmo-
parts are torn off, struts break, and cables snap. The sphere, the air defense system can only fire three
Refiners know how and where to go to avoid acci- salvos at an incoming ship before it lands. Once a
dents, but others may need to roll for SCOUT to avoid ship has landed, the air defense system cannot hit
an accident (see Events on page 92). it. An unidentified ship that takes off again while

89
 AD ASTRA

FLOATS

06
CANNON
TURRET

THE EYE OF ODIN

SPACEPORT
THE AD ASTRA

DOWN TO THE AD ASTRA

At the center of the Platform is the way down to the
Ad Astra. A circular opening, 50 meters across, looks
down on the starship hanging from massive chains.
A rusty, rickety fence along the edge offers some
the anti-­aircraft guns are operational will once again protection against falling. Four ramps slope down
be fired upon as long as it is within range. Each hit from the edges of the opening to an air defense
inflicts one point of damage (see rules for Space platform in the center, from which a ladder leads
Battles on page 115). down to the rocket.
A pilot attempting an evasive maneuver rolls for There are usually two Odinites standing guard
DRIVE plus the ship’s Engine. This one roll covers on the air defense platform, in addition to the Refin-
the entire approach or departure, and all attacks on ers operating the cannons. PCs who would rather
the ship are modified by −1 for each / on the DRIVE not attack the Odinites can climb down one of the
roll. The Evasive Maneuver talent (page 106) gives chains attached to the Ad Astra. These massive,
the gunner an additional –1. meter-­thick links are covered in ice and sway in
If the PCs’ ship has weapons of its own, they can the strong winds. Climbing requires a MOVE roll
fire back at the anti-­aircraft guns. One hit (success- modified by −1, and those who fail fall unless they
ful SHOOT roll) with the ship’s cannon is enough to are secured to something. Any player who embarks
disable the air defense system. on this suicide mission should be aware of the risk.

90
 The Eye of Odin

PEOPLE Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 2, Wits 3, Empathy 3

Skills: Endure 1, Fight 1, Force 1
Here are some of the people the PCs may encounter
Talents: E.g. Tinkerer, Cynic, Rebel
on the Eye of Odin.
Mutations: E.g. Electric, Four-­Armed, Human Magnet, Acid
Spit
REFINER
Gear: Blunt object
The refinery’s working class keeps the Eye of Odin
running. Hardened by the harsh environment of the
gas giant’s atmosphere, these laborers grind away FOREMAN OXA BRYLLING
without questioning the orders that come mostly Oxa is the foreman of a work crew, but mostly she
from Odinites and sometimes from their own fore- is a brute. She takes care of her own, often by try-
men. The Refiners are a motley crew of mutants,
mutated animals, and even the occasional robot.
ODIN, the machine intelligence from Jotun­heim,
ing to intimidate others. She has a deep, drawling,
threatening voice, even when she is not trying to
scare anyone. In her world, others are either with
06
means almost more to the Refiners than to the Odi- her or against her – and most are against her and
nites. While the Odinites are philosophical and need to be put in their place.
contemplative of ODIN’s often cryptic statements,
Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 4, Wits 3, Empathy 2
the Refiners are generally more literal believers.
They see, or saw, ODIN as a higher being with actual Skills: Endure 1, Fight 3, Manipulate 1

insight into the future. They often swear by ODIN Talents: Commander, Hard Hitter
or refer to it as someone who will get them out of Mutations: Regenerate
trouble. If the player characters have Dirac Thirteen Gear: Scrap axe, scrap armor (Armor Rating 3), two spare
and ODIN’s circuits with them, it could positively parts
impact the Refiners’ attitude toward them.

91
 AD ASTRA

ODINITE
The Odinites who accompanied Refaim to Jupiter
have now grown old and there is very little new
blood coming in. Most of the Refiners who could be
recruited are mutants and therefore it is unthinkable
to allow them to join as members.
All Odinites revere ODIN, the machine intelli-
gence that lent the group its name, and its supreme
interpreter Refaim. But not all of them are equally
devout. Many are fully aware that ODIN is just a
computer program and that Refaim himself is not
particularly reverent of the computer. Others are

06
more religious and actually believe in the rituals
they used to perform in the now dark and silent
computer room known as Mimir’s Well.
Overall, the Odinites are haughty and long used
to being superior to the Refiners. They look down on
anyone with obvious mutations as unsophisticated
and likely unintelligent.
Attributes: Strength 2, Agility 2, Wits 4, Empathy 4
Skills: Inspire 1, Comprehend 2, Manipulate 2
Talents: Coward
Gear: Laser pistol

EVENTS
After landing on the refinery, the PCs must make
their way through the tangle of steel pipes, ladders,
and platforms to reach the Ad Astra. Several events
may occur along the way.

HURRICANE
Strong winds rock the whole refinery, and the bal-
loons look like they could burst at any moment.

Effect: Anyone trying to get somewhere outdoors

must make an ENDURE roll. On failure, the character
falls over and suffers one point of damage.

LIGHTNING STRIKE
The thunderstorms in Jupiter’s atmosphere make
the ones on Earth pale in comparison. A huge arc of
electricity splits the orange haze and goes straight
through the refinery, from the upper layers of clouds
to the depths of the atmosphere.

92
 The Eye of Odin

Effect: The player characters are knocked over. All of damage. Armor protects from damage as usual.
electronic gear on the Platform loses one point of Victims keep taking damage from the rain each
Gear Bonus. round until they find shelter by succeeding with
MOVE.
ICE
The already biting sub-­zero temperature drops dras- CABLE BREAKAGE
tically at the same time as a cloud of supercooled A cable on one of the footbridges snaps with a loud
water vapor rises from the lower cloud layers. A bang. The footbridge tips over and everyone on it
slippery coat of ice immediately forms on all lad- risks falling off.
ders and icicles appear on all the struts and wires.
Effect: Whoever succeeds with a MOVE roll gets hold
Effect: Any attempt to move on the iced-­cover lad- of a wire and can climb to safety. Anyone who fails
ders requires a successful MOVE roll; failure means plummets to a platform below. Because of Jupiter’s
the person falls over. If combat breaks out on the ice, merciless gravity, the person suffers damage equiv-
any failed MOVE or FIGHT roll has the same result. alent to an attack with twelve Base Dice, Weapon
Damage 1. The amount of damage can be reduced
HAILSTORM with a successful MOVE roll – each / reduces the
Fist-­sized hail rains down from the clouds above. damage by one.
Because of Jupiter’s strong gravity, these ice pro-
jectiles are deadly. REFINERS
The PCs encounter a group of surly Refiners (two
Effect: Anyone exposed to the hail must make a more than the PCs) led by the notorious trouble-
MOVE roll every round. Those who fail suffer an maker Oxa Brylling (page 91).
attack with ten Base Dice, Weapon Damage 1. How they act depends on who they think the
PCs are. Traders and pilots will sometimes come to
FREEZING WINDS the Eye of Odin, and Oxa’s gang will likely assume
The harsh climate suddenly gets a great deal harsher that the PCs are some of them. Oxa introduces
as a wave of even colder air rolls in from another her friends as “concerned citizens” and demands
cloud layer. The temperature drops several tens of that the PCs pay some kind of fee to pass through.
degrees in just a few seconds. Items worth a spare part or two (5–10 bullets)
may suffice. The PCs can avoid the involuntary
Effect: Any biological creature who is exposed to the transaction with a successful MANIPULATE roll, but
cold without a space suit must make an ENDURE roll. if the roll fails or they simply refuse, Oxa and her
On failure, the victim suffers one point of damage gang will jump them and try to throw one of them
and becomes Hypothermic.

ACID RAIN
over the railing.
If the anti-­aircraft guns have been fired, the
Refiners are more suspicious and it takes a success-
06
See Acid Rain in Mutant: Year Zero. Heavy drops ful MANIPULATE roll to stop them from attacking.
suddenly begin to fall from the orange clouds, wash-
ing the platform in corrosive sheets of rain. All the THE PREACHER
workers run for shelter and the PCs should probably A group of Refiners has gathered around an old man.
do the same. The man, an Odinite, promises them that ODIN will
return, that he will always look after them. Some-
Effect: Anyone out in the acid rain is at great risk one in the crowd responds skeptically, accusing the
of injury. Roll a number of Base Dice depending on preacher of not knowing what he is talking about.
the intensity of the rain; 6 is normal, but anything Then two other Odinites elbow their way through
from 4 to 10 is possible. Each / inflicts one point the Refiners to “deal with” the skeptic.

93
 AD ASTRA

Astra, he has never shared his views with anyone

THE AD ASTRA except those closest to him.
Vertigo seizes you as you peer over the edge. At first Refaim is in his 80s, with thin wisps of hair
you see only the nose cone and the scaffolding at the surrounding his blotchy bald head, but his beard is
top of the rocket. Below, the outline of the ship disap­ still thick. His eyes are deep-­set and watery. He has
pears into a sea of orange clouds. Suddenly there is not aged gracefully and tries to conceal it by dying
a gust of wind. The rocket sways in its mighty chains, his hair and beard. Over the years he has adopted
as does the platform beneath your feet and you almost an increasingly religious tone and now wears robes,
lose your footing. As you regain your balance and look and his orders are more like sermons, often delivered
down, you see her in all her glory. The clouds have in a chanting, slightly absent-­minded voice. He talks
cleared and the starship Ad Astra appears before more to ODIN than to his biological friends.
you. She is not beautiful, built from parts scraped

06
together over the years, but she is made for the stars.

The starship Ad Astra hangs like a ringed plumb ENCOUNTER WITH REFAIM
bob below the refinery, its rocket engine pointed “So, you’re finally here. It’s about time. You
down towards Jupiter’s core. The ship is almost have the circuits with you?”
ready for its voyage to Proxima Centauri. The only Refaim wants to restore ODIN so he can
thing missing is the ship’s computer, ODIN, without complete his life’s work and, as he sees it,
which it cannot take off. save humanity. He bargains with the PCs
and is prepared to offer almost anything,
THE BRIDGE including the refinery with all its technol-
The Ad Astra’s bridge is a room with a row of win- ogy, or what he thinks is more desirable
dows located in the bow. It consists of two levels. than anything else – a journey to the stars.
The upper level has five workstations facing each Refaim uses threats and arguments to
other in a circle. These stations control the ship’s convince the PCs that there is no point
reactor, core engine, communications, sensors, and in going back, that Earth is not worth it
navigation. Floor grating separates the upper level and that they of all people should under-
from the lower, and a spiral staircase connects them. stand this. Instead, he offers them a place
The lower level is full of screens and control on the Ad Astra.
Astra. In exchange for ODINODIN’s
’s
panels seemingly taken from different space stations circuits, they may join the Asmegir on
and ships. At its center, the spiral staircase contin- their voyage to the stars.
ues down to the stern. The bridge also houses the If the PCs accept Refaim’s offer, the
ship’s only airlock, which can be accessed from the Guardians will empty as many cryobeds as
scaffolding on the outside. there are PCs, and they can climb inside
On the bridge is Refaim, deep in thought. If he for a journey to the stars. Go to Epilogue –
sees Dirac Thirteen, he becomes furious and attacks. To the Stars (with the PCs) on page 98.
If the PCs show up first, he is curious about them. Alternatively, the PCs can try to steal
the Ad Astra and take off on their own.
DR. REFAIM They still need to activate ODIN by return-
Refaim is old and it shows. Decades of working on ing its memory circuits to Mimir’s Well
the Ad Astra project have turned his conviction (next page). Then they must release the
into an obsession – humanity’s future lies in the ship from its moorings. The PCs can do it
stars, partly because of the rot-­infested Earth, but manually or have ODIN do it for them. The
also because of the mutated animals and humans ship is hanging from eight massive chains
he considers abominations. Since these mutants that must all be detached simultaneously
include many of the technicians building the Ad to prevent it from listing.

94
 The Eye of Odin

the journey. The ring will be detached from the

spacecraft once it reaches Proxima Centauri and
DR. REFAIM
serve as an orbital space station while the rest of
the ship lands. But the ring is still incomplete, and
behind the airlocks in the tunnels leading to it there
are holes gaping open to the freezing atmosphere
of Jupiter. Refaim is prepared to leave without it. It
will not be needed during the journey anyway, as
the Asmegir will be sleeping in Gimle.

MIMIR’S WELL AND ODIN

Attributes: Strength 1, Agility 2, Wits 5, Empathy 3 Below the temple is Mimir’s Well, the computer
room where ODIN was installed until Dirac Thir-
Skills: Comprehend 4, Manipulate 2, Sense Emotion 1,
Move 1 teen stole the memory circuits. Rows of thousands
Talents: Cool Head
of diodes are now dark and dead and the whole
room is silent. A panel on one of the walls is still
Mutation: Telepathy
loose and reveals the four slots where the memory
Gear: Laser pistol
circuits should be.
Installing the circuits only takes a minute and
GIMLE TEMPLE does not require any rolls. They slide into their slots
The staircase starting at the center of the bridge with a satisfying click and after a few seconds a swirl-
spirals down to a larger room, which in turn has ing pattern of light in the diodes indicates that ODIN
four corridors leading out to the ring. This is Gimle, is waking up. After about ten seconds, a voice is heard.
a temple named after the place where humans will “I am ODIN. What do you want?”
live after Ragnarok. In this room there are eighteen The PCs must now persuade ODIN to give them
cryobeds arranged in two concentric circles – six control of the core engine by making a MANIPULATE
in the inner circle and twelve in the outer one. The roll, with +1 for each relevant thing they mention:
cryobeds look like metal coffins with slowly blinking K Jotun­heim will be lost if they do not return
lights. The glass windows that would have shown the the core engine.
faces of those inside are covered. Cryptic symbols K Dirac is on their side (easiest if he is alive
have been carved into the sides of the beds. and present).
Four tall windows, one in each direction, evoke K Refaim has fooled everyone, including ODIN.
the feeling of a temple chamber and the light from K ODIN is highly intelligent (they should not
Jupiter’s atmosphere gives the room an orange hue. mention that it is also rather smug).
In the temple two Guardians are watching over
the cryogenic beds. They will immediately attack
anyone trying to destroy or open a bed.
K The core engine is an amazing piece of
engineering.
K Something that confirms that those who lived
06
The spiral staircase continues down through the before the wars were better than those cur-
temple to the computer room called Mimir’s Well rently alive.
and to the ship’s reactor and core engine. From the K A philosophical discussion about goodness
temple, four corridors lead out to the ring-­shaped and morality.
living quarters which will serve as a space station
once the Ad Astra reaches its destination. If the PCs fail to convince ODIN, they can still take
the core engine, but cannot fly the Ad Astra. In that
THE RING case they will have to dismantle the core engine
The ring around the ship is the least finished part for transportation (see The Reactor and the Core
of the Ad Astra, but also the least necessary for Engine on page 97).

95
 AD ASTRA

THE AD ASTRA BRIDGE

GIMLE

06

MIMIR’S WELL

REACTOR

CORE ENGINE

96
 The Eye of Odin

THE REACTOR AND THE CORE ENGINE

The spiral staircase leads further down the ship to the
reactor and the core engine below. At the reactor, the
ship is wider than on the upper levels. The reactor
core is arranged like a cylinder around a central shaft.
The staircase ends at a grid floor that covers the cir-
cular shaft. A ladder along one side passes two more
grid floors before reaching the bottom of the shaft.
Hundreds of palm-­sized circles form a spiral
pattern along the walls of the shaft. These are the
reactor control rods. They are controlled from the
bridge, but can also be pulled out manually, which
increases the reactor’s power output. If all control
rods are fully withdrawn, a meltdown occurs within
minutes. When the PCs arrive, the reactor will likely
be inactive and all rods fully inserted. The nuclear
reactor is shielded, but leakage causes everyone
present to suffer one Rot Point per hour.
At the bottom of the shaft is a hatch leading
down to a small airlock and on to the engine room
where the core engine is located. The engine itself
is unassuming – a three-­meter-­long metal cylinder
with a pointed tip and a cone at the bottom. It is too
heavy for one person to carry alone, but two peo-
ple can just about manage. The engine room is not
oxygenated – between the struts to which the core
engine is attached, it is open to Jupiter’s atmosphere.
Detaching the core engine normally takes ten
minutes but can be done faster with a FORCE or
JURY-­RIG roll. On failure, the engine comes loose
and falls. However, there is scaffolding around the
ship and the engine gets stuck between two struts
ten meters below. Climbing down there requires
another FORCE roll. Anyone who fails that roll will
fall to their death unless secured by a rope.

THE GUARDIANS
06
The Guardians are robots assigned to guard the
Asmegir and rarely leave their chamber. They often Attributes: Servos 5, Stability 2, Processor 2, Network 2
talk to themselves and describe what they are doing
Armor: 4
(actually reporting to ODIN, but the machine brain
Programs: Assault 3, Shoot 2, Interact 2, Scan 3, Over-
stopped listening a long time ago). They are human- load 2, Special Program: Guard 3 (Like Protect but no bonus
oid, vaguely human-­like robots. The Guardians listen from /)
to ODIN, but after not receiving any orders for many Modules: —
weeks, they are becoming increasingly eccentric and Secondary Functions: Command Override
paranoid. For this reason, the Odinites no longer
Gear: Stun baton
dare to visit the Temple.

97
 AD ASTRA

ESCAPING THE EYE OF ODIN sections of the giant space station have already
PCs wishing to bring the core engine broken off and tumbled into the atmosphere. And
onto the Mundil­fari can do so, but they no one is answering your calls.
will need to carry it through the refin- A few hours later you have docked. The radio
ery. Doing so requires two people, both silence is deafening, but the dock opens. Someone
of whom must succeed with an ENDURE on the other side must still be alive. You make your
roll. Anyone who fails suffers one point way to the airlock and the red warning light at the
of damage and they will have to drag the door turns green. There is pressure on the other side.
core engine the rest of the way. The door whistles open to reveal a crowd of ragged
Taking off in the Mundil­fari is not easy Jotun­heimers. At first there is silence. Then, as if from
as the ship is not designed for atmospheric nowhere, Dirac Thirteen glides past you, pushing the
launch. The departure begins with the ship silvery core engine in front of him. The crowd will not

06
plunging into Jupiter’s atmosphere while stop cheering. Jotun­heim is saved!
the engine builds up to full thrust. A suc-
cessful DRIVE roll is required – otherwise TO THE STARS (WITH THE PCS)
everyone on board suffers one point of You wake up. You have been asleep for a long time,
damage from the shaking ship before it perhaps hundreds of years. You remember Refaim’s
finally generates enough lift to reach orbit. aged face as he smiled at you and closed the lid.
Now the metal eyes of the Guardians are watching
you without emotion. As you get up, the sarcophagi
that have kept you alive open around you.
You stagger to your feet. A greenish light is shin­
EPILOGUE ing in through the ship’s windows. Without speaking,
There are multiple endings to this story. The player you walk towards the windows. It is daytime outside.
characters might fail. They may have seen the Ad Not the sharp contrasts of space, but the velvety light
Astra leave without them. The core engine could filtered through a planet’s atmosphere. The ship has
be destroyed or plummet into Jupiter’s atmosphere. landed on a beach. Above the emerald waves you see
But even what constitutes a happy ending may differ flocks of flying creatures. Not birds, not bats, something
between gaming groups. Here are some possible in between. Further away, on the horizon, a mountain
endings to the campaign. looms over the sea – a volcano, judging by the column of
smoke. ODIN’s metallic voice is heard from the speakers.
THE CORE ENGINE TO JOTUNHEIM “Welcome to Proxima Centauri.”
It was a long journey back to Jotun­heim, but after sev­
eral weeks you finally arrive, and in the Mundil­fari’s TO THE STARS (WITHOUT THE PCS)
cargo hold is the metal cylinder you have searched With a loud bang, the chains come loose and gravity
half the solar system for. Your nervousness rises as pulls the ship towards the largest planet in the solar
the ship approaches Earth, and the final hours are system. In a few seconds the rocket has disappeared
quiet and tense. As before, your calls have only been so far into the gas clouds that it is only a silhouette,
answered by static. Whatever happened, the space and a few seconds later not even that. Suddenly
city does not seem to have repaired the antenna that the clouds below the refinery light up as if from an
was destroyed by the Rust Fleet. explosion and a deafening roar fills your ears.
You finally reach orbit with the poisoned Earth The starship rises from the clouds, riding on a
below you. Then you see it on the horizon, glittering pillar of fire and light. As it passes the refinery, the
in the sunlight. The star city. Jotun­heim. At first you blast wave throws you to the ground. For a moment
seem to be coming in too high, but that is not the the orange twilight is swept away by the trapped star
case. The star city has dropped several kilometers carrying the Ad Astra. Then she is gone. Away from
since you left. Drawing closer, you notice that several Jupiter, headed for the stars. Leaving you behind.

98
 New Rules

07
NEW RULES
Ad Astra is a campaign, but it is also a new way
to play Mutant: Year Zero. This chapter provides NEW ROLE: PILOT
information on how to play in space – during and The default way of playing Ad Astra begins with a
after the campaign. rocket leaving Earth for the Jotun­heim space station.
PCs starting out this way have no previous experi-
ence in space. However, players can also create new
MOVEMENT IN SPACE characters for the campaign, and PCs may need to
Moving around in the weightlessness and vacuum be added over the course of the game.
of space is not always easy. The roles described in Mutant: Year Zero or
any of the other Mutant games can all be used
WEIGHTLESSNESS for new player characters in Ad Astra, although
There is no up or down in space, nothing pulling in some may need a bit of tweaking. But there is also
any particular direction – gravity is either negligible a new profession available for newly created player
or there is free fall in orbit. This makes some activ- characters: Pilot.
ities easier and others more difficult. Specifically, it
is more difficult to move and maintain balance in
zero gravity. Failing any roll based on Strength or
Agility while in zero gravity causes you to Tumble. TUMBLING
Tumbling gives you −2 to all rolls based
07
VACUUM on Strength or Agility. You can stop tum-
When exposed to vacuum without protective gear, bling by using a maneuver to stabilize
you must make an ENDURE roll each round (before yourself. If you have nothing solid to grab
you act). The roll can be pushed but does not count on to, a successful MOVE roll is required
as an action. On failure, you lose your breath and to stabilize yourself; otherwise you keep
take one point of damage. If you are Broken by Tumbling.
vacuum, you faint and die within D6 minutes if you
do not get oxygen before then.

101
 AD ASTRA
PILOT
Your ship is part of you. Its worn accelera-
tion seat is the one place you feel truly at
home. Others are intimidated by the dark
void of space, but not you. It is where you
belong, where you are in control. With
your hands on the controls and your eyes
on the fixed stars, you steer your ship.
Without it you are alone, naked, insecure.

APPEARANCE

07 Choose from the suggestions below or come up

with your own.

K Face: Ice-­blue eyes, intense gaze, wing nut ears,

metal eye, cracked aviator glasses, freckles
K Body: Small, pale, muscular, wiry
K Clothes: Dirty long johns, bomber jacket, torn
space suit, coveralls

TALENTS

Choose a starting talent. You can learn more later.

K Droner Pilot
K Flying Ace
K Evasive Maneuver

RELATIONSHIPS TO OTHER PCS

Choose from the following suggestions or make

up your own:

… ... managed to repair the reactor just in time to

avert a meltdown. But it was that idiot’s fault
in the first place.
… ...makes unreasonable demands, the ship
cannot go any faster. But you still have some
respect for them.
… ... questions you constantly. One day they will
see the outside of an airlock.
…… has always trusted you and your skills. They
are just a bit of a wimp.

102
 New Rules
WEIGHTLESSNESS

RELATIONSHIPS TO NPCS

Choose from the following suggestions or come

up with your own.

You hate:
K The Boss Yuri, who sent you on a suicide mission.
K The Pilot Hera, who says she is faster than you.
And is probably right.
K The Gearhead Kinta, whose carelessness with
the navigation computer almost caused you
to crash.

You want to protect:

K The Gearhead Bylov. Arrogant but competent.
K The Chronicler Astrina, who has written new
songs about your travels.
K The Fixer Henryk, who always seems to be able
to find spare parts.

YOUR BIG DREAM

Choose from the suggestions below or come up

with your own.

K Having your own ship. One that is yours alone.

K Visiting one of the outer planets.

GEAR

You start the game with 2D6 bullets and a space suit.

Choose one of these starting weapons:

Scrap knife, brass knuckles, scrap derringer. 07
Typical Names: Bolt, Asta, Zack, Suri,
Fender

Key Attribute: Agility

Specialist Skill: DRIVE

103
 AD ASTRA

REPAIRING WITHOUT JURY-­R IG

SKILLS Much of Ad Astra is about repairing
Just because there is no air or gravity does not mean or maintaining your equipment, which
all the skills and talents you have accumulated on often requires JURY-­RIG rolls. If there is
Earth are useless. Anyone who can tinker with a no Gearhead in the group, this could be
diesel engine can pull a reactor control rod. a problem. You can therefore let a player
Ad Astra can be played with player characters roll for JURY-­RIG to repair an item without
from Mutant: Year Zero, Mutant: Genlab Alpha, the character actually having the skill,
Mutant: Mechatron, and Mutant: Elysium. This using only their Base Dice.
means that different characters may have different
skills that have the same or similar uses. Ad Astra
mainly refers to skills from Mutant: Year Zero, but

07
similar skills from other games can generally be
used at the GM’s discretion – perhaps with positive COMMAND (Empathy)
or negative modification once in a while.
In Ad Astra the PCs have left the Ark behind and
with it the Boss’s gang. The COMMAND skill is there-
COMPREHEND (Wits) fore given new uses.

Anyone who has managed to survive the Apoca- Focus! With a successful COMMAND roll you can
lypse in space knows more about the world before point out an enemy within sight of you and your
the devastation than down on Earth, or they would friends. Anyone who hears your orders receives a
not have survived. After a few weeks on Jotun­heim, bonus on attacks against the target equal to the
this also applies to the player characters. The player number of / rolled. The effect lasts until the next
characters can act as if they live in an ark with time you act.
Development Level 30 in Technology.
Retreat! With a successful COMMAND roll you give
all allies who hear your orders a bonus to MOVE
KNOW THE ZONE (Wits) equal to the number of / rolled. The effect lasts
until the next time you act.
Once the PCs have gone through the databases and
talked to the station dwellers on Jotun­heim, this Captain: If you are the captain of a spaceship or
skill can also be used for “zones” in space. some other crewed vehicle, you can command them
in combat. With a successful COMMAND roll you give
each crew member a bonus equal to the number of
JURY-­R IG (Wits) / rolled on all their actions. The effect lasts until
the next time you act.
In space, the Gearheads’ specialist skill is even more
important than it is on Earth. Everything needs
to be repaired, maintained, and patched up. JURY-­ New Skill:
RIG can also be used to repair and construct space DRIVE (Agility)
objects such as:
K Space Suit (without modules) Driving a spaceship or a drone, or a Mars car for
K Rocket Pistol that matter, is just a matter of pulling some levers
K Rocket Launcher and pushing some buttons. Anyone can do it badly,
K Oxygen Tent but only Pilots can do it well.
K Suit Repair Kit

104
 New Rules

VACUUM

You can not only drive a vehicle, but make it do against a specific target until your next round.
things no one thought possible – high-­G maneuvers Can be selected multiple times for an increased
with rusty rockets, hairpin turns with six-­wheeled
Mars Buses, or three-­dimensional pirouettes with
free-­falling drones.
K
bonus against the same target.
Evasive Maneuver. Anyone firing at the vehicle
gets −1 until your next round. Can be selected
07
Roll for DRIVE when trying to make a vehicle do multiple times.
more than just move. For example, the DRIVE skill can K Hypermiling. Your vehicle consumes half as
be used instead of MOVE or FIGHT when operating much fuel over the distance covered by the
a vehicle. By using DRIVE you can also affect other DRIVE roll.
people in the vehicle. K Full Speed Ahead. Your vehicle’s speed increases
by 50%.
Bonus Effects: For each extra / you roll, choose K Ram. You ram another vehicle. If it is a spaceship,
an option from the list below. you can choose to board it. If it is a road vehicle,
K Broadside. You position the vehicle so that the driver must succeed with a MOVE or DRIVE
anyone riding in it gains +1 on all SHOOT rolls roll or be rammed off the road.

105
 AD ASTRA

07
VACUUM HARDENED

K FLYING ACE (Pilot)

NEW TALENTS You get +1 to all MOVE or SHOOT rolls while oper-
Here are some new and updated talents for Ad Astra. ating a vehicle.

K FREE-­F LOATER K EVASIVE MANEUVER (Pilot)

You have learned to control your movements in You can shake pursuers and evade attacks while
free fall and do not start Tumbling when you operating a vehicle. Attacks against the vehicle you
fail a Strength or Agility roll in weightlessness are driving get a −1 modification.
(page 101).

K MOTORHEAD (Gearhead) MUTATIONS, POWERS, AND MODULES

This talent also covers spaceships, robots, and more. Life in vacuum and weightlessness has given rise
to new mutations and animal powers, and some of
K DRONE PILOT (Pilot) those already known work differently in Ad Astra.
You have a small hover drone that you can control
remotely. The drone has Strength 1, Agility 3, and
Wits 3. Commanding the drone to act costs you New Mutation:
an action. When acting in a round, the drone can VACUUM HARDENED
perform two maneuvers and one of the following
actions: Your skin is hardened to vacuum and your blood can
K Shoot (Agility, skill level 3) an enemy with a hold many times more oxygen than that of other
light laser (Weapon Damage 1). The weapon has humans. You can:
no Gear Bonus and the roll cannot be pushed. K Be your own space suit. Each MP spent gives
K Scan (Wits, skill level 3) the surroundings and you one hour’s worth of oxygen.
transmit the information to you. K Resist one point of damage from Rot. Each
K Infiltrate (Wits, skill level 3) a location and MP spent eliminates one point of damage from
report back to you. Rot. (R)
K Harden your skin. Each MP spent eliminates
one point of damage from a physical attack. (R)

106
 New Rules

INSECT WINGS
WITHOUT MECHATRON
This mutation cannot be used in vacuum. However, The robots in Ad Astra have stats as per the
at the cost of 1 MP you can automatically stabilize rules in Mutant: Mechatron. If you lack this
yourself while Tumbling (but not in vacuum). Fur- expansion, you can simply replace attributes
thermore, in weightlessness or free fall, you do not and programs/skills as per the list below. Note,
need to land at the end of your flight. however, that robots can never Manipulate
non-­robots and that mutated animals cannot
Dominate robots.
CLIMBER
MECHATRON YEAR ZERO

Servos Strength
This animal power gets the addition that you do
not Tumble when failing MOVE rolls in zero gravity. Stability Agility
Processor Wits
ROBOTS, MODULES, Network Empathy
AND SECONDARY FUNCTIONS Assault Fight
Almost all robots have an advantage in space: they Shoot Shoot
are not affected by vacuum. The only exceptions
Move Move
might be robots with biological or biomechanical
Scan Scout
parts, but all player characters created according
to the rules in Mutant: Mechatron are unaffected Interact Manipulate

by vacuum. In Ad Astra there are some additional

modules and secondary functions that may be useful.

K G YROSCOPE BIOMECHATRONICS
(New General Secondary Function) The biomechatronics introduced in Mutant: Elysium
You have a built-­in, rotating gyroscope that keeps are also available in Ad Astra.
you stable at all times. You never Tumble in
weightlessness.

BIOMECHATRONICS

07

107
 AD ASTRA

SPACESHIPS
Besides the two ships at the center of the campaign,
the Ad Astra and the Mundil­fari, there are hundreds
of other spaceships in the solar system, from con-
verted lifeboats to worn-­out freighters and even old
battleships. What they all have in common is that
they are on their last legs. They have been patched,
mended, tweaked, and repaired for decades past
their expiration date.
Once shiny and ultramodern steel hulls are now
scarred by meteor swarms and skirmishes. Life sup-

07
port systems struggle to keep the air in a breathable
condition. Reactors are leaking rot and navigation
systems have been replaced by sextants and a stop-
watches. More and more ships are becoming the
final resting place of their crews as reactors explode
or life support systems fail. No one is building new
ships except the Shipwrights at Jupiter – and the
only ship they are building is bound for the stars.

SPACE TRAVEL
Traveling through space in what is basically a tin can
with a rocket engine is extremely dangerous. The
only thing keeping the vacuum away is a combina-
tion of a strong hull, luck, and skill, and most ships
lack the former. In Ad Astra the player characters
will undertake a number of spaceflights and each
of them will involve risk. How much risk depends
on how well they take care of their ship.
A spaceship is defined by four numerical values,
each acting as a Gear Bonus. These ship stats are
listed below, along with the skills they grant bonuses
to when the ship is used:
K Hull: Force, Endure, Press On
K Sensors: Scout, Scan, Calculate, Investigate
K Engine: Drive, Comprehend, Jury-­Rig, Analyze,
Repair, Manufacture, Tinker
K Life Support System (Life Support): Heal,
Clean, Recycle, Brew Potion

At the beginning of the campaign, the Mundil­fari

has level 1 in all ship stats. On Jotun­heim the player
characters get their first opportunity to raise these
stats by upgrading modules, and more opportuni-
ties will present themselves over the course of the
campaign.

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 New Rules

PURE OXYGEN Ad Astra assumes that ion rockets are so effi-

In spaceships and on space stations, the cient that the amount of reaction mass needed is
atmospheric pressure is kept lower than negligible. Instead, it is energy that sets the limits.
on Earth’s surface to reduce the risk of All ships are equipped with a fusion reactor that
leakage. To compensate for this, the air generates the enormous amount of energy needed
consists of pure oxygen. for the ion engine, which in turn requires fuel in the
form of the rare isotope helium-3.

HELIUM-3
If a ship stat drops to zero as a result of pushed Helium-3 is one of the hottest commodities in the
rolls or damage, the related function of that stat is solar system. The isotope is found in Jupiter’s atmo-
lost until the ship is repaired. sphere, on some asteroids, and especially in the
vast regolith fields of Luna where it is mined by the
ROCKET SHIPS AND PHYSICS robot emperor APEX and his subjects (page 35).
Mutant: Year Zero is not a strictly scientific game. Helium-3 is packaged in fuel capsules – half-­
Mutations, laser weapons, intelligent robots, and meter-­long cylinders that contain enough fuel to
talking animals are not entirely subject to the laws power a normal spacecraft for a week of accelera-
of nature as we know them. Neither is space travel. tion. A fuel capsule counts as a heavy item and if
In reality, traveling between planets is extremely it breaks it leaks 1 Rot Point per minute.
complicated and takes a very long time. Here is A spacecraft that is not going anywhere uses a
some information for those wishing to know how negligible amount of energy and can run for a year
spaceships work in Ad Astra. on a single fuel capsule.
Spaceships in Ad Astra are propelled by ion
rockets that expel particles at extremely high veloc- DISTANCES IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
ity. As a result, people on board a ship will expe- The distances in the solar system are incredibly
rience a sensation of increased heaviness during vast. But rockets are also incredibly fast. As a result,
takeoff – usually a fraction of Earth’s gravity. Most voyages take weeks in the inner part of the solar
ships can generate many times more force for short system (inside Jupiter’s orbit) and months in the
periods of time, which can cause the ship’s crew to outer part.
be pushed hard into their seats. Since all the planets in the solar system orbit
When a ship travels from one celestial body to the Sun at different speeds, the distances between
another in the solar system, it generally follows a the planets vary greatly.
parabolic trajectory, a path where the ship acceler- The table on page 110 indicates the maximum
ates during the first half of the journey and then number of days it takes to travel from one celestial
rotates and decelerates during the second half. A
good pilot can use the gravity of any celestial body
along the way to provide additional acceleration or
body in the solar system to another. A pilot with
the DRIVE skill can make a roll at the start of the
journey to reduce the travel time by 20% (round
07
deceleration. up) per /, up to a maximum of 60%. Any Gear
Since all acceleration and deceleration is done Bonus from the ship’s Engine can be used. Note
by expelling something from the ship, which is that distances increase the further out one gets, but
called reaction mass, a ship cannot continue once it spaceships also travel faster over long distances. If
runs out of reaction mass. In our world, this is one of a rocket ship makes a stop on the way, it counts as
the biggest problems of space travel, often referred two separate voyages.
to as the tyranny of the rocket equation – you must Furthermore, in order to travel the entire dis-
bring with you all the reaction mass needed for the tance, the spacecraft’s reactor must have enough
journey, but the more mass your ship carries, the fuel for the whole journey, or the crew may find
more reaction mass you need to accelerate. themselves stranded in interplanetary space.

109
 AD ASTRA

TRAVEL TIME IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM (DAYS)

ASTEROID
PLANET MERCURY VENUS EARTH MARS BELT JUPITER SATURN

MERCURY — 2 5 11 17 35 53
VENUS 2 — 3 10 16 34 52
EARTH 5 3 — 7 14 32 50
MARS 11 10 7 — 7 27 47
ASTEROID BELT 17 16 14 7 — 20 44
JUPITER 35 34 32 27 20 — 35
SATURN 53 52 50 47 44 35 —

07 SPACE EVENTS
HANDLING SPACE EVENTS
Most space events are handled the same way no
Every spaceflight involves risk. Once the PCs have matter what they are – with a skill roll of a certain
decided on a destination and gone off into space, the difficulty:
GM makes one or multiple rolls on the Space Events 1. A crew member is appointed to lead the work.
table (normally one roll per week commenced). 2. The leader describes how the problem is to be
The GM then chooses how and when the event solved and which skill will be used. The skill
occurs. If you wish, you can also select an inter- must be related to one of the ship stats (page
esting result from the table instead of rolling. The 108). The leader may then invite others to
table lists events that can occur specifically on the help. These people choose how to contribute
Mundil­fari. If you are using other spaceships, it may by selecting a skill, which does not have to be
need adjusting. related to a ship stat.

SPACE EVENTS
DIE EVENT DIFFICULTY SHIP STAT DIE EVENT DIFFICULTY SHIP STAT

11–16 Nothing significant — None 44 Faulty wiring −1 Engine

happens
45 Radiation leak −2 Engine
21 Torsion stress ±0 Hull
46 Engine breakdown −3 Engine
22 Tangled cables ±0 Hull
51 Toilet problem ±0 Life Support
23 Airlock malfunction −1 Hull
52 Algae invasion ±0 Life Support
24 Broken landing gear −1 Hull
53 Spoiled food −1 Life Support
25 Micrometeoroids −2 Hull
54 Sauna −2 Life Support
26 Explosion −3 Hull
55 Carbon dioxide −2 Life Support
31 Radio message Special Sensors poisoning
32 Radar blip ±0 Sensors 56 Solar storm −3 Life Support
33 Antenna issues −1 Sensors 61 Ruptured space suit Special —
34 Off course −1 Sensors 62 Knocking Special —
35 Distress signal Special Sensors 63 I want out! Special —
36 Ghosts −2 Sensors 64 There’s something in Special —
the cargo hold
41 Power outage ±0 Engine
65 Depression Special —
42 Broken thrusters ±0 Engine
66 Stowaway Special —
43 Carousel −1 Engine

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 New Rules

3. Everyone contributing describes how they Some events do not follow the template above –
intend to use their respective skills to handle these are marked with Special under the difficulty
the event. The GM gives them bonuses or pen- column of the table. If the PCs fail to handle the
alties based on how difficult it seems. The GM
also decides if it is even possible to contribute
in the specified way.
event and this leaves something on the ship in need
of repair, the repair must be done in a dock, takes
one day, and costs two spare parts unless stated
07
4. Everyone helping out makes their skill rolls, and otherwise.
each / they roll gives the leader +1 on their roll.
5. The leader makes their own skill roll. On suc- 21 Torsion Stress
cess, the event is handled. The leader gains +1 for The ship starts to vibrate more and more, causing
each / rolled by the others and a bonus from the dents in the hull which in turn lead to more vibra-
related ship stat, but also gets a penalty depending tions. Eventually the situation goes from scary to
on the difficulty of the event (see table on previous dangerous as bolts loosen and beams bend. Failure
page). Each event’s description includes examples could lead to:
of what failure may lead to. The GM can choose K The ship’s Hull is reduced by one.
from these or come up with something else.

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 AD ASTRA

22 Tangled Cables K ... so I must ask you again, do not come here. The
The cables holding parts of the ship together have reactor leak is too severe and I’ve only got a few
become tangled and need to be separated, which hours left ...
may require a spacewalk. Failure could lead to: K ... trapped in this lifeboat. I repeat, the emergency
K The ship’s Hull is reduced by one. release is jammed and I can’t get in or out. I’m
K The person doing the spacewalk gets caught up trapped in this lifeboat ...
in the cables and suffers one point of damage K ... can be used to grow mint in hydroponic systems.
to Agility. Ain’t that something? And that’s all from Radio
Cosmonaut for today ...
23 Airlock Malfunction K ... need oxygen, food, and water. Everything is
The ship’s only or largest airlock malfunctions. No running out, we can pay for it with ...
one can enter or exit the ship without losing large

07
amounts of breathable air. Failure could lead to: The message does not repeat, but a successful
K The inner airlock door is always open. Space- COMPREHEND roll with a Gear Bonus from Sensors
walks are impossible until the ship is repaired reveals that it is coming from an asteroid fairly
in port. close to the ship’s trajectory. Stopping there costs
K The airlock can only be vented manually, which an extra day of travel time.
takes up to half an hour.
K The airlock cannot be vented at all. Every time 32 Radar Blip
it is used, several cubic meters of air are lost. A blip suddenly appears on the radar. The PCs may
choose to investigate – it is only a few hours away.
24 Broken Landing Gear Is it an off-­course satellite? An abandoned ship? A
The ship’s landing gear has broken at some point piece of scrap metal?
since its last landing. Failure could lead to:
K Each landing on a planet reduces the ship’s 33 Antenna Issues
Hull by one until the landing gear is repaired. The ship’s radio antenna gets stuck as the servomo-
tors fail, and it can no longer be redirected. Fixing
25 Micrometeoroids this may require a spacewalk. Failure can lead to:
A sharp bang is followed by a hailstorm and a whis- K The ship’s Sensors is reduced by one.
tling hiss. Micrometeors have pierced the hull. Fail- K The ship has no radio until the antenna is
ure could lead to: repaired.
K There is an air leak somewhere on the ship. Life
Support is reduced by one. 34 Off Course
K The radar antenna is damaged and must be The navigation system has sent the ship off course.
replaced. The ship’s Sensors is reduced by one. A successful KNOW THE ZONE roll is required not to
lose D6 days of travel time.
26 Explosion
An electrical overload leads to an explosion and 35 Distress Signal
the ship runs out of air in a few rounds. This event The radio picks up an automatic emergency signal
can be played out round by round. The PCs must about a day away. Is it a trick?
put on their space suits, find the leak, and seal it
before they suffocate. 36 Ghosts
An electromagnetic phenomenon plays tricks on
31 Radio Message the crew. Voices are heard from the speaker system
The radio crackles and a message comes through. and the light pulses in Morse code. Someone thinks
Choose between: they saw a face outside the spaceship. It must be
an electrical issue. Failure could lead to:

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 New Rules

K All crew members must make a SENSE EMOTION whole ship will be flooded with radiation. Failure
roll every night. Anyone who fails is haunted could lead to:
by nightmares and rendered Sleepless. Those K Everyone who helped immediately suffers a Rot
who succeed can stop rolling. Point.
K The ship is contaminated with radiation. Every-
41 Power Outage one on the ship suffers one Rot Point per week
Suddenly the power goes out. Everything goes dark until it is decontaminated (repaired).
and the ship quickly loses heat and oxygen. Fail-
ure results in some systems remaining down, for 46 Engine Breakdown
example: The ship’s engine is dead. Unless the crew gets it
K The heating system is acting up. Everyone must running again, the ship is a tin can in space, hurtling
make an ENDURE roll each day with Gear Dice forward at a constant speed without ever reaching
from blankets and the like. Failure leaves them its destination. Failure could lead to:
Hypothermic. K The ship no longer has an engine. Time to send
K The lights are out. Moving around on the ship out a distress signal and hope someone receives
requires MOVE rolls to avoid walking into things. it before the air runs out.
K Life Support is reduced by one.
51 Toilet Problem
42 Broken Thrusters Zero-­gravity toilets are complicated. Sometimes
The thrusters stop working and must be repaired, they break down. It is not fun. Failure could lead to:
which requires a spacewalk. Failure could lead to: K Backflow from the toilet produces a foul smell,
K Engine is reduced by one. but also spreads disease. Everyone on the space-
ship suffers one Rot Point.
43 Carousel
The ship’s steering engines start firing uncontrol- 52 Algae Invasion
lably, sending the ship into a spin. Everyone is The ship’s carbon dioxide scrubbers have been
pinned against the outer walls of the ship. The invaded by algae which are spreading a musty smell
steering engines must be shut down! Failure could throughout the ship. Green threads are pouring out
lead to: of the air vents, releasing their gray spores. Failure
K Everyone must make a MOVE roll, and those who could lead to:
fail must roll once on the critical injury table. K Life Support is reduced by one.
K Engine is reduced by one. K Everyone on the ship suffers one Rot Point.

44 Faulty Wiring 53 Spoiled Food

A routine maintenance check of the electrical system
suddenly makes large parts of the ship live with
electricity. Repairs must be made without touching
An unpleasant surprise awaits when the crew opens
their next can of grub. It has gone bad! Now they
must salvage what they can of the remaining food.
07
the hull! Failure could lead to: Failure could lead to:
K Everyone who helped solve this problem must K Life Support is reduced by one.
make a MOVE roll, and those who fail suffer an K Emergency rations for the rest of the voyage.
electric attack with six dice, Base Damage 2. Everyone suffers one point of damage. The rest
K The electrical system is fried. Engine is reduced of the rations are barely enough to keep the
by one. hunger at bay, so no damage can be recovered
until they replenish their supplies.
45 Radiation Leak
The thing that must not happen has happened:
the reactor is leaking and must be repaired, or the

113
 AD ASTRA

54 Sauna sleepless. Both the knocking and the sleeplessness

The cooling system fails and it turns out that vac- stop after one week.
uum is a very good thermal insulator. The tempera-
ture on the ship rises rapidly as the crew frantically 63 I Want Out!
tries to repair the system. Failure could lead to: Sitting in a poorly insulated tin can in the middle
K All crew members must make an ENDURE roll of space, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of
every day. Those who fail are Dehydrated for kilometers of vacuum, can make anyone a little
the rest of the day, no matter how much they uncomfortable. A crew member is overcome with
drink. A new attempt to repair the cooling sys- claustrophobia and tries to escape through an air-
tem can be made each day until it turns back lock. In their rush, they forget to put on their space
on by itself after a week. suit helmet. Play out the event using the rules for
vacuum (page 101), while the other crew members
55 Carbon Dioxide Poisoning
07
try to get into the airlock.
The carbon dioxide scrubbers are becoming less
and less effective, and soon the crew starts getting 64 There’s Something in the Cargo Hold
headaches. This is followed by drowsiness and hal- A crew member stumbles upon some kind of threat-
lucinations. Failure could lead to: ening artifact in the cargo hold. No one recognizes
K Life Support is reduced by one. it. Is it a bomb, a killer robot, or maybe just a toy
K Everyone gets the Sleepless condition if they from the past? The COMPREHEND skill can be used
remove their space suits for any length of time. for this event. Failure could lead to:
K It was a bomb! It explodes with Blast Power 6,
56 Solar Storm hitting everyone who was involved in trying to
A crackling message from the solar observatory on handle the event.
Mercury warns of an imminent solar storm. The crew K It was a radioactive capsule. Everyone suffers
must quickly protect themselves from the radiation one Rot Point.
that might wash over the ship within minutes, but K It was a video game from the Old Age, which
how? Failure could lead to: causes discord among the crew as everyone
K Everyone immediately suffers one Rot Point. wants to play at the same time.

61 Ruptured Space Suit 65 Depression

One of the space suits has ruptured without anyone Everything seems pointless. One monotonous
noticing. Anyone conducting a spacewalk wearing day after another in a virtual sardine can in the
this suit is exposed to vacuum as per the rules on endless void of space. No wonder you get a little
page 101. The space suit can be repaired with depressed. Or very depressed. Or lock yourself
a JURY-­RIG roll or a spare part once the hole is in your cabin and threaten to never come out.
discovered. Failure can lead to:
K One of the crew members loses all Empathy
62 Knocking and is thus Broken and remains so until the
No one knows when it started, but everyone agrees end of the mission.
– there is something knocking on the hull. Not all
the time or everywhere, but sometimes. Maybe near 66 Stowaway
the airlock. Maybe it is just the pressure. Because It is impossible, and yet it has happened. There is
there cannot possibly be anyone out there trying a stowaway on board, sitting under a plastic tarp
to get in. Everyone must make a SENSE EMOTION deep in the cargo hold. Use the stats of a typical
roll. Those who fail are unable to sleep and suffer Jotunheimer (page 28). How does this affect the
the Sleepless condition. The sleepless ones must ship’s supplies? And what will she do when they
make a new roll every day; on failure, they remain arrive at their destination?

114
 New Rules

maneuvers (page 104). The pilot uses the ship’s

SPACE BATTLES Engine as a Gear Bonus. The ship moves on the
Space battles work like regular combat with vehi- pilot’s initiative.
cles. The difference is that spaceships do not have
just one Gear Bonus but consist of several interact- Shoot: The person manning the vehicle’s weapons
ing parts. Similarly, there are often several people can use the SHOOT skill to fire them. Each weapon
involved in the fighting. In space battles (or combat has its own Gear Bonus.
with other large, crewed vehicles), there are a num-
ber of roles that perform different tasks. Scan: A person can make the pilot’s rolls easier by
providing information about the enemy’s position
Distance and Speed: Distances in space are vast. and speed. This person makes a COMPREHEND roll
Consequently, space battles are generally initiated with Gear Bonus from the ship’s Sensors. Each /
at Distant range. Speeds are also high in space, but gives the pilot +1 to MOVE or DRIVE rolls until the
since spaceships interacting with each other have scanner operator’s next action.
often adjusted their speed, the same rules apply
as for regular vehicles – every maneuver spent on
movement counts as two.
Overclock the Engine: A mechanic can attempt to
increase the ship’s speed. In combat a successful
07
JURY-­RIG roll increases the Gear Bonus from the
Captain: The captain issues orders and coordinates ship’s Engine, while failure reduces Engine by one.
the crew, using the crew’s Morale as a Gear Bonus The roll gains Gear Bonus from the mechanic’s tools.
for their MANIPULATE, INSPIRE, or COMMAND rolls. In
combat, the COMMAND skill has a special function Quick Fix: In combat, a mechanic can try to restore
for the captain (page 104). lost points of Gear Bonus. A successful JURY-­RIG
roll restores one point of Gear Bonus per / for one
Pilot: The person controlling the vehicle can try of the ship stats. But this is only a temporary fix.
to escape danger, ram enemies, and so forth. The If the same area takes damage again, the effect is
DRIVE skill allows pilots to perform additional canceled and the damage to the Gear Bonus returns.

115
 AD ASTRA

Board: If two spaceships are within Short range DAMAGE TO SPACESHIPS

of each other, the crew of one ship can exit the Like other vehicles, spaceships have a Resilience
airlock and attempt to board the other. It takes a rating. When a ship is hit by an attack, a Gear
successful MOVE roll to reach the airlock of the Bonus is reduced by one if the damage sustained
other ship, where they can then attempt to break is equal to or greater than the ship’s Resilience.
in. If the ship has Hull 0, the boarding party can Once the damage exceeds twice the Resilience
enter through a breach. rating, the Gear Bonus is reduced by another step,
and so on.
You can roll D6 for each reduced Gear Bonus
to determine which area is affected. If you get an
area that already has zero Gear Bonus, the result
above it in the table applies.

07 D6

1–3
AREA

Hull
EFFECT WHEN REDUCED TO ZERO

All the air is sucked out of the ship.

Large ships may retain a few pockets
of air.
4 Engine The ship can no longer change direc-
tion or speed, nor fire its weapons.
5 Life Support The life support system is disabled.
6 Sensors The ship’s radio, radar, and other
communication systems are down.

REPAIRING SPACESHIPS
Spaceships that have been damaged and had their
Gear Bonuses reduced need to be repaired. This
requires spare parts and access to repair equip-
ment. The quality and quantity of the equipment
determine how many points of Gear Bonus can be
restored.
Repairing a spaceship requires a JURY-­RIG roll
with Gear Bonus from tools. Anyone lacking that
skill can roll for Wits without the Gear Bonus. Each
roll takes one day and costs two spare parts. On
success, the Gear Bonus is restored up to a max-
imum level determined by the conditions for the
repair (see table). Extra / halves the time spent or
reduces the number of spare parts needed (down
to zero). If the roll fails, no further attempts can be
made until conditions improve.
MAX BONUS
CONDITIONS AFTER REPAIR

Repair on small ships +1

Repair on large ship +2
Small space station +3
Large space station +4
Best available dry dock in the solar system +5

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 New Rules

THE VERDANDI (Trading Ship)

TYPICAL SPACESHIPS The merchant ship Verdandi is divided into three
There are a plethora of spacecraft operating in the parts. The middle segment houses the crew and
interplanetary vacuum, most of them long past the main engine, while a pontoon on each side
their expiration date or built from wreckage and carries cargo and support engines. The ship is built
scrap materials. That they can hold together at for speed rather than safety, and although it can
all, let alone move, is often borderline miraculous. technically land in atmosphere, it may not be able
Here are some examples of different spaceships to take off again. The ship has a loading arm for
and their crews. loading and unloading in zero gravity.

THE AMARYLLIS (Passenger Ship) THE VERDANDI

The Amaryllis is in much worse shape than she Hull +2, Sensors +2, Engine +4, Life Support +2
looks. From a distance she appears to be a sleek,
Crew: Captain, pilot, loader
well-­polished rocket with silver fins and beauti-
Cargo: The crew and 200 items
ful patterns painted along her elongated hull. But
Supplies: 30 person-­days
underneath the paint, the ship is held together with
duct tape and steel wire. Resilience: 5
Comment: Can land in atmosphere, but it reduces Hull by
THE AMARYLLIS one. Has a loading arm for loading in zero gravity.

Hull +1, Sensors +2, Engine +2, Life Support +1

THE CUTLASS (Pirate Ship)
Crew: Captain, pilot, conductor
The pirate ship Cutlass is infamous throughout
Cargo: 12 passengers and 20 items
the solar system. The hull is lined with the skulls
Supplies: 16 person-­days
and bones of the pirates’ victims, and several of
Resilience: 2 the cannons protruding in different directions are
Comment: Cannot land in atmosphere. actually operational.

THE BULL (Mining Ship) THE CUTLASS

The Bull is not a pretty sight. A giant drill domi- Hull +2, Sensors +1, Engine +3, Life Support +1
nates the front of the old mining ship, along with
Crew: Captain, pilot, six pirates
the cable attachments used to anchor the ship to
Cargo: The crew and 30 items
the asteroid that is to be mined. In the old days
Supplies: 30 person-­days
a swarm of nanobots would then bring the ore
to the ship. Now it is done by hand by miners in Resilience: 7
space suits trying to sort the valuable rocks from
the worthless ones.
Comment: Cannot land in atmosphere. Laser cannons with
Damage 4. 07
THE BULL
Hull +4, Sensors +2, Engine +2, Life Support +1
WATER AND GRUB
In Ad Astra it is usually not water or grub that runs
Crew: Pilot, three miners
out, but the very air you breathe and the reactor fuel
Cargo: The crew and 300 items in cargo nets on the outside
of the ship
that powers your ship. There is therefore no need
to keep track of water and grub while the PCs are
Supplies: 30 person-­days
on a ship or space station.
Resilience: 4
However, if the PCs go on a longer expedition,
Comment: Large drill that can be used as a weapon (dam- tracking water and grub may become relevant again.
age 2) at boarding distance. Cannot land in atmosphere.
The GM decides when this is the case.

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 AD ASTRA

WITNESSES OF CONFLICT
EVENTS ON A SPACE STATION The player characters witness a clash between two
Here are a number of mishaps and other events the gangs, or possibly a robbery or an ordinary argu-
GM can introduce on Jotun­heim or any other space ment. Should they intervene?
station visited by the player characters.
SHORT CIRCUIT
JAMMED AIRLOCK With a bang, an electric arc strikes between two
One or more PCs get stuck in an airlock that will not walls in front of the player characters and the smell
open. They must succeed with FORCE, JURY-­RIG, or of ozone fills the air. It takes a JURY-­RIG roll to fix it.
a similar skill, call for help, or forcibly break out of Jumping over the arc requires a successful MOVE
the airlock. In the worst-­case scenario, there might roll. In both cases, failure results in the player char-
be a vacuum on the other side of the door, which acter taking 2 points of damage from the electricity.

07
starts leaking... Robots take 3 points of damage.

AMBUSH DRONE
The player characters are ambushed by a gang of The player characters seem to be followed by a drone
space thugs lying in wait (page 31). Perhaps the that backs away whenever they try to get close. Is
ambush was meant for someone else; perhaps the someone controlling it?
player characters were simply in the wrong place
at the wrong time. Maybe the space thugs want POWER OUTAGE
something they have. The lights go dark, the fans stop. The power is out
and without power there is no air supply, no doors
SPORES opening. Who cut the power? Was it deliberate or
A rattling noise is heard from a vent and suddenly an accident?
a cloud of greenish-­yellow spores erupts from its
grating. Any PC who inhales must succeed with WORM SWARM
an ENDURE roll or suffer two points of damage and Hundreds of black worms suddenly come crawl-
one Rot Point. What is releasing these spores? ing out of the ventilation shafts. They seem to be
Maybe some kind of fungal outbreak in the air moving toward a target – maybe one of the PCs, or
system? It might strike again unless the PCs find maybe they are just passing through on their way
and eradicate it. to something else. See Worm Swarm in Mutant:
Year Zero.
SOLAR FLARE
The radiation alarms suddenly start blaring. The CLOGGED VENTS
station has been caught in a solar flare. Every- The player characters enter an area with clogged
one suffers one Rot Point and must find shelter vents and low oxygen levels. They start to feel dizzy,
within an hour, or they will suffer one Rot Point but otherwise do not notice that the air is no longer
per minute until the flare passes (after a couple breathable. See the rules for vacuum (page 101).
of hours).
NICE AND CLEAN
AIR LEAK The player characters enter an area where the usual
First the PCs hear a faint whistling sound, then mold is gone, and the metal is not only visible but
their ears pop. The pressure doors slam shut at remarkably clean. The reason is that the area is
both ends of the section they are in. There is an contaminated with rot, and anyone passing through
air leak, and the PCs must find it before they run it suffers a Rot Point.
out of air.

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 New Rules

THE DISEASED DEAD MUTANT IN A SPACE SUIT

The PCs come across a station-­dweller they have
not seen before. The person is alive but seems seri-
ously ill with large boils. The NPC does not speak
The player characters come across the half-­
decayed corpse of mutant in a space suit floating
in zero gravity. Who was this person? Why did
07
but only tries to reach the player characters. If the they die?
person comes within Arm’s Length, several of the
boils burst and spores are released into the air (see MAGNETIC FIELD
Parasite Fungus in Mutant: Year Zero). The player characters find themselves in a passage-
way occupied by strong localized magnetic fields.
AURORA Metal objects are pulled violently against one of the
A strange light phenomenon of rainbow-­colored field walls and it takes successful FORCE rolls to pry them
lines surrounds and runs through parts of the space loose. Meanwhile, the walls are creaking ominously
station. The phenomenon is harmless but worrying. and buckling under the magnetic forces.

119
 AD ASTRA

K SPACE SUITS
GEAR Your space suit is your only protection against the
Things that would have been considered artifacts vacuum of space. Looking after it is the most import-
on Earth, like space suits or radios, are a necessity ant task of any spacefarer, and many also decorate
in space and therefore much more common. their space suits with personalized patches or install
additional features. In space suits, just like on board a
SPARE PARTS spaceship, you breathe pure oxygen at a lower pressure.
To survive in space, you need your gear to work. Effect: Heavy item. Protection against the vac-
This goes for everything from space suits to life uum of space, two module slots, three hours’ worth of
support systems or gyrojet rifles. Ad Astra therefore oxygen, Armor Rating 3. Armor Rating 6 against rot.
introduces the concept of spare parts. A spare part Modules: Every space suit has two module slots.
weighs ¼ and can be used to repair gear without In each slot you can install a space suit module if

07
JURY-­RIG rolls. you are lucky enough to find one. Examples of space
One spare part is used for each point of Gear suit modules include:
Bonus repaired. Anyone using spare parts for a K Rot Protection.The space suit’s Armor Rating
repair rolls a Gear Die. If the die lands on YY, the against rot increases by three.
repair fails, and the item’s new Gear Bonus becomes K Radio. The space suit is equipped with a short-­
permanent. range radio. Without a radio, the wearer can only
Those with the JURY-­RIG skill do not need spare communicate by waving their arms or pressing
parts to repair things but can use spare parts to get helmet to helmet.
automatic
SPARE PARTS/. K Extra Oxygen Tank.The space suit can store
Spare parts are also the common currency in an additional three hours of oxygen.
Ad Astra, rather than ammunition. Each spare part K Armor.The space suit’s Armor Rating increases
is worth about five bullets in Mutant: Year Zero. by one.

120
 New Rules

K Multi-­Tool. The space suit has a multi-­tool that Useful in zero gravity as the rocket is self-­propelled
gives the wearer a +1 Gear Bonus to JURY-­RIG. and has no recoil – just point the rod in the right
K Winch.The space suit has a built-­in winch that direction and pull the string to fire the rocket.
can be used to attach oneself to something. Effect: Gear Bonus +2, Damage 3, Short range.
K Rocket Nozzles.The space suit has rocket nozzles One shot. Reloading takes one round, no recoil,
that you can use to stabilize yourself while Tum- failed rolls in zero gravity do not result in Tumbling.
bling (page 101), without making MOVE rolls.
K Machete.The space suit has a hidden, built-­in K OXYGEN TENT
machete in one arm that can be unfolded. Gear If you want to travel on planets or other celestial
Bonus +2, Damage 2, Arm’s Length range. bodies without atmospheres, you need somewhere
K Geiger Counter.A built-­in Geiger counter to rest, unless you enjoy sleeping in your space suit.
keeps track of rot levels. An oxygen tent has a single opening with no airlock
and can accommodate four people and their space
K MAGNETIC PISTOL suits. In order to get in and out the tent must be
A magnetic pistol fires a powerful magnetic field deflated, which means that everyone inside must
that is especially destructive to robots. first put on their space suits.
Effect: Gear Bonus +2, Weapon Damage 3, Short Effect: The tent has built-­in oxygen tanks that
range, only damages robots and electronic items. will last four people for one day. Longer stays require
some sort of oxygen source, such as a catalyst. Heavy
item.

K OXYGEN BUBBLE
MAGNETIC PISTOL A smaller version of the oxygen tent. The oxygen
bubble is a lifesaver for those who suddenly find
themselves in a vacuum. It is an oxygen tube with
an inflatable balloon large enough for one person.
Effect: The oxygen lasts for D6 hours.

OXYGEN BUBBLE

K GAUSS PISTOL
An elongated pistol in matte metal with glowing
diodes on the outside. The weapon generates a
07
powerful magnetic field that propels tiny pro-
jectiles (1 mm caliber) at extreme velocities.
Effect: Light weapon with Gear Bonus +2,
Weapon Damage 2. The target’s Armor Rating
counts as 3 steps lower than normal. Long range.
Energy weapon. Electronic item.

K SCRAP ROCKET LAUNCHER

A long metal rod with a pieced-­together, rocket-­
powered explosive charge mounted at the far end.

121
 AD ASTRA

K OXYGEN CATALYST D66 SPACE SCRAP

A catalyst can use energy to split water into oxygen 11 Seized servomotor
and hydrogen. The catalyst is powered by a battery 12 Cracked space suit visor
(artifact). It looks like a timeworn tangle of pipes 13 Bundle of stripped wires
and wires, with a filthy plastic canister and a port
14 Fried control board for rocket ship
for an oxygen tube.
15 Bent piece of sheet metal
Effect: With a working catalyst, water can be
used as oxygen; a ration of water provides one per- 16 Worn-­out space suit gloves

son with oxygen for 24 hours. 21 One square meter of plastic film with a few holes
22 Neatly rolled-­up, broken oxygen tubes
K MARS BUS 23 Satellite dish without antenna

07
Mars buses can look very different. They usually 24 Antenna without satellite dish
have six or eight wheels and a pressurized cabin
25 Cracked solar panel
large enough to accommodate a family, including
26 Broken touchscreen
sleeping areas. They run on solar power and bat-
tery storage or have small microreactors powered 31 Bag of computer chips, most of them with bent pins

by fuel which can be found in the ruins. On the 32 Moldy yeast tank
outside they are often cluttered with baggage, 33 Bottle with unrecognizable contents.
wrapped in plastic sheets to protect them from 34 Plastic insulation
the sand. 35 Old navigational computer, always gets it wrong
Effect: Mars buses are artifacts (vehicles) with
36 Cracked radar screen
Gear Bonus +2, Resilience 5, Armor Rating 6, and
41 A handful of heat shield tiles from a space shuttle,
can seat ten passengers. Otherwise, they function
well used
just like an automobile (see Mutant: Year Zero). Mars
42 A set of tiny mirrors
buses have built-­in life support systems. As long
43 Ten 3.5-inch floppy disks
as they have power, they can maintain a tolerable
atmosphere inside. 44 Fan motor, seemingly intact
45 Seized fuel pump
K VACUTOL 46 Inkjet printer with a dried-­up printhead
A drug that temporarily increases oxygen uptake 51 Dead video game console
and resistance to vacuum.
52 Rusty oxygen tank
Effect: Gives +3 Gear Bonus to all ENDURE rolls
53 Clogged welding torch
for enduring vacuum (page 101). The effect lasts
for D6 hours, after which you automatically suffer 54 Reactor control rod

one point of fatigue. The pills are enough for D6 55 Large potentiometer
doses. Tiny item. 56 Ten dented metal discs
61 Sun-­bleached plastic capsule
SPACE SCRAP
62 Hologram projector, constantly out of focus
This is an addition to the scrap table in Mutant:
63 Bundle of cable, weighs roughly 1kg
Year Zero. The GM can select from or roll on this
64 Water-­damaged dehumidifier
list to get more space-­related scrap.
65 Filter holder from an Apollo space capsule
66 Positronic brain that does not respond to any stimuli.
Probably dead. Probably.

122
New Rules

07

123
 The Solar System

08
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Ad Astra takes the player characters from Earth’s hundreds of scientists and technicians. Their job
orbit via the moon and Mars to Jupiter’s atmo- was, and still is, to warn the rest of the solar system
sphere. But the flickering, post-­apocalyptic light of of impending solar storms. Many people around the
civilization has spread further still, to the moons solar system owe their lives to the warnings issued
of Saturn, the clouds of Venus, and the smoldering by the Solar Observatory.
craters of Mercury. The station’s current crew, after generations of
isolation, has become increasingly eccentric. What
used to be a scientific task of observing the sun has
MERCURY become a matter of fascination, or in some cases wor-
Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system, ship. Nowadays, many of the observations are mere
with a gravity barely half that of Earth. It is also the rituals whose true meaning has long been forgotten.
planet closest to the Sun – so close that tidal forces A group of the youngest observers, who call
have almost locked the planet in place. For someone themselves “spottists”, have gone even further. They
on Mercury, the sun moves very slowly and seem- believe that the sun speaks to them through pat-
ingly erratically across the sky, three times bigger terns in the recurrent sunspots. The prevailing view
and six times brighter than on Earth. One Mercury among the spottists, based on their readings of the
day is approximately two months long.
Overall, Mercury is a desolate rock of a planet
where sunlight can melt metal, but where one
sunspots, is that the sun is displeased with them
and that their warnings must cease. They think
solar storms are the sun’s will and that we humans
08
can also find billion-­year-­old icebergs in craters should simply embrace them.
untouched by the sun. Still, there are reasons to They are opposed by the old guard of solar
visit this inhospitable landscape. observers for whom issuing warnings is a higher
purpose served by the entire station. The tension
THE SOLAR OBSERVATORY between these two factions is rising by the day –
Somewhere on Mercury’s surface is an old solar the traditionalists led by the non-­mutated human
observatory. Living under a massive satellite dish Jonus Kwurk versus the spottists and their leader
are twenty or so descendants of what were once Frida Grasper. Civil war is not far off.

125
 AD ASTRA

SOLAR OBSERVER
beyond the energy they get from sunlight. For the
most part they just want to keep doing what they
were once put on Mercury to do.
There is one exception to this stoicism. The
robots used to spend the long Mercurian night
gathered around a projector, watching a recorded
episode of a soap opera from before the Apoc-
alypse. Always the same episode. But now the
projector has broken down, to the deep dismay
of the robots. One of them has even succumbed
to depression and drowned itself in one of the
metal lakes. Someone must repair the projector

08
(one spare part and a successful JURY-­RIG roll).
Whoever succeeds will be amply rewarded (metal
equivalent to ten spare parts).

VENUS
The most inhospitable planet in the solar sys-
tem is Venus. Its atmosphere is like a boiling
soup of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid, with a
pressure equivalent to being a thousand meters
underwater and temperatures exceeding even
those of Mercury.
Yet people are still enticed by Venus. Over mil-
lions of years, volcanoes on the planet’s surface have

SURVIVING ON
THE SURFACE OF VENUS
No one can survive on the surface of Venus
without protection; even in a space suit it
is difficult. A PC wearing a space suit or
THE METAL LAKES AND THEIR KEEPERS equivalent protective gear must roll the
Located on a vast lava plain are the Metal Lakes – space suit’s Gear Dice every hour. Each
large pools of mercury-­like liquid metal, deadly to reduces the Gear Bonus by one step.
anyone who falls in or even stays too long in the If the Gear Bonus drops to zero, the suit
fumes. The area is occupied by a colony of huge falls apart and the wearer dies. Space suits
mining robots, led by BRY512 “Brynolf’”, specifically without the proper modifications also let
designed to cope with the extreme environment of through one Rot Point per hour. Modifying
Mercury. Using large suction devices, they fill their a space suit for the Venusian environment
internal furnaces with the liquid metal. During Mercu- takes one module slot, one spare part, one
ry’s month-­long night the metal solidifies in the lakes. day of work, and a successful JURY-­RIG roll.
The platinum bars and cobalt balls produced by A Venus Modification gives the space suit
the robots are extremely valuable, but mostly just +1 Gear Bonus on Venus and protects the
piled up in storage. The robots have very few needs wearer from the planet’s rot.

126
 The Solar System

spewed out resources which all the Titan Powers Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 4, Wits 3, Empathy 2
competed for. Mining stations, amazing feats of
Skills: Endure 3, Fight 2, Force 2, Comprehend 1
engineering, were built to enable work in these
Talents: Find the Path 3
nightmarish conditions. But during and since the
Gear: Rot diving suit (space suit with two Venus Modifica-
Enclave Wars, more and more of these stations have
tions), Geiger counter, backpack, shovel
been abandoned. Instead, the remaining inhabitants
have taken to the clouds where temperatures and
pressures are more tolerable. BASILISKS −2
THE SKY CRUISERS It is rumored that there is life in the worst part of the
There are settlements hovering in the atmosphere solar system. That one of the Titan Powers made a
of Venus – zeppelins floating slowly at an altitude desperate attempt to win the Venusian mining wars
where the pressure and temperature are more suit- by releasing genetically engineered monstrosities
able to humans. Venus’s atmosphere has no oxygen, that not only survived but thrived in the hellish land-
but with a simple breathing mask, life in these zep- scape of Venus. No one knows if it is true, but many
pelins can be quite comfortable. rot divers have spoken of the “basilisks” – huge
The smallest aircraft have gondolas large enough metallic reptiles that can concentrate the boiling
to house a family or two, but the largest ones are acid from the atmosphere and spit it at their prey.
full-­on settlements with hundreds of inhabitants,
Attributes: Strength 5, Agility 5
rocket landing pads, hydroponic gardens, and more.
What all these have in common is that they Skills: Fight 3, Sneak 2, Shoot 2

are not self-­sufficient. Staying afloat in Venus’s Armor: 3

atmosphere requires a constant supply of phos- Weapons: Bite (Weapon Damage 1), acid spit (Near range,
gene, a gas extracted from volcanoes down on the Weapon Damage 2, armor has normal effect)

surface. To access these, regular expeditions are

made by particularly intrepid individuals known
as rot divers. EARTH’S ORBIT
Jotun­heim, described in Chapter 2, is the largest
THE ROT DIVERS installation orbiting the Earth, but not the only
Rot divers use specially designed suits and landing one. Old military and civilian satellites, parts of (or
craft as they venture down to the surface of Venus. entire) space stations, missile debris, battle robots,
Once there, they have a few hours to locate the pre- wrecked spaceships, and all sorts of scrap metal
cious phosgene gas and anything else they might are circling the poisoned Earth in various orbits.
find along the way. Expeditions from Jotun­heim and other parts of the
After a few hours their suits begin to disinte-
grate in the extreme conditions on the surface and
unless they return to their capsule and head back
system sometimes venture into this graveyard of ships
in search of spare parts. Sometimes it all goes well,
sometimes they encounter more than they expected.
08
to the sky cruiser, they will inevitably die from the Most of the solar system’s inhabitants are con-
pressure and temperature. vinced that the Earth is poisoned and lost. That
Rot divers wear suits that make them look like anyone could have made it out of there alive is seen
the mascots of a pre-­apocalypse rubber manufacturer. as unlikely and probably a lie. Even if there were
Plump protective rings are held together with duct survivors, most ships in the solar system cannot
tape, and everything is covered in plastic tarp. A metal land on or take off from Earth’s surface.
helmet with small glass windows completes the suit.
Rot divers are often scarred by their time on the
surface. They are strong and silent, but also idolized MARS
by the other inhabitants of the sky cruisers. Mars and the space train are described in chapter 5.

127
 AD ASTRA

THE ASTEROID BELT

Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter lies a huge
cluster of countless asteroids, ranging in size from
fine gravel to dwarf planets hundreds of kilometers
across. Home to mining stations, pirate fleets, and
space bases, the asteroid belt is the most vibrant
part of the solar system outside the major plan-
ets. Here are some examples of what PCs might
encounter there.

THE RUST FLEET

08
The Rust Fleet is a group of barely spaceworthy
ships with motley crews that roam the solar sys-
tem in search of everything from reactor rods and
oxygen to old artifacts and spare parts. It is said
that Pirate Queen Verika uses bone meal from her
victims in the life support system of her flagship,
the Cutlass, and that the rest of the bodies are used
to fuel the reactor cores (although that particular
rumor seems a bit far-­fetched). The Rust Fleet is
feared throughout the solar system, but especially
among the stations in the asteroid belt. For more
information and stats, see page 31.

SPACE STATIONS
There are hundreds of space stations (both large and
small) in the asteroid belt, from tiny metal boxes
housing a single family to large rotating cylinders
with atmosphere and vegetation. They generally
have to trade with each other to survive, so there
is also a swarm of small independent trading ships
transporting supplies between the different stations.
Here are some tables that you as GM can use to roll
or select characteristics for space stations encoun-
tered by the PCs.

SIZE
D6 POPULATION

1 3D6
2–3 3D6 × 5
4–5 3D6 × 20
6 3D6 × 100

128
 The Solar System

SPACE STATION IN THE ASTEROID BELT

TRADE
D6 FOCUS PRODUCES REQUIRES JUPITER AND ITS MOONS
1 Mining Metals Grub, spare parts The gas giant Jupiter is the largest planet in the
2 Technology Spare parts Metals, grub Solar System, more massive than all the other plan-
3 Crops Grub Spare parts
ets combined. For more information about Jupiter
and the people living in its upper atmosphere, see
4 Knowledge Information Grub, spare parts
Chapter 6. Although it is possible to survive in the
5 Military Protection Grub, spare parts
upper atmosphere of Jupiter, there are better places
6 Religion Morale Grub, protection to live nearby, namely the planet’s four moons: Io,
Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

1
FEATURES
D6 FEATURE

The residents are suspicious of strangers.

IO – THE MAGNETIC MOON
The volcanic moon Io has over 400 active volcanoes
08
2 Has artificial gravity through rotation. spewing sulfur dioxide, which actually gives it a
3 Is controlled by an AI.
thin atmosphere. Its proximity to Jupiter creates
tremendous tidal forces and means that, like Luna,
4 Produces mind-­expanding drugs and has filled its
atmosphere with them. the moon always has the same side facing its planet.
5 Has a leaking reactor, but all residents have the
Strange phenomena mark the surface of Io. In addi-
Rot‑Eater mutation. tion to the sulfur volcanoes and the massive gas giant
6 Civil war – two (or more) factions are fighting for hanging in the sky, Io is home to incredibly strong
control of the station. magnetic fields – so strong that any spacecraft that
comes near may get caught in them and pulled to
the surface. There are rumors of entire ships being

129
 AD ASTRA
EUROPA

forced to land and unable to take off again, magnet-

ically attached to the moon’s surface. These ships
should be a goldmine for anyone looking for old
artifacts. The powerful radiation on Io also causes
all visitors to suffer one Rot Point per day.

EUROPA – THE FROZEN OCEAN

Europa is covered by a layer of ice that is several
kilometers thick, beneath which lies an ocean a
hundred kilometers deep. Several space bases have
been built in the ice and some of them have tun-
nels all the way down to the ocean below. There,

08
in the deep, the war was fought with submarines,
robots, and genetically modified underwater crea-
tures. Today the ice-­covered oceans of Europa are
a dangerous place where giant sea monsters roam.
But it is also a place where fortunate explorers can
make amazing discoveries.
For creatures lurking beneath the ice, feel free
to use monsters from Zone Compendium 2: Dead
Blue Sea.

GANYMEDE – THE NIGHTMARE MOON

Like Europa, Ganymede is largely covered in ice,
but there are no bases left on Ganymede. Those that
were built were quickly abandoned as the inhab-
itants went mad. Anyone even entering its orbit
will be haunted by tentacle-­filled nightmares. The
dreams are caused by the denizens of Ganymede
– the octomares. These squid-­like creatures live on
the ice and in the ocean hiding beneath the surface.
The octomares are a biological weapon devel-
oped by Mimir at the Idun research station in the
asteroid belt (page 49). After being used to take
over enemy installations on Ganymede many years
ago, they broke free and have since built their cyclo-
pean temples both on and beneath Ganymede’s ice.
For the octomares’ stats, see page 56.

CALLISTO – THE BATTLEFIELD

Callisto, a moon of rock and ice, is where the largest
battles in the solar system took place. Here robot
armies and space-­suited infantry were locked in
trench warfare. The burnt-­out wrecks of tanks and
combat walkers made for the moon’s meager grav-
ity lie scattered on the surface among the ruins of
military bases. Exactly what they fought for on this

130
 The Solar System

godforsaken moon has been forgotten, but Callisto is from the smokestacks light up the sickly yellow
now being repopulated and several bases have been clouds covering Titan. The city has countless bars
repaired and are now used for farming or mining. and hangouts for prospectors, but the most famous
one is Willie’s Wax.

SATURN AND TITAN THE PROSPECTORS

Few ever venture beyond Jupiter, and even fewer The thing that attracts people to Titan is the dream
beyond Saturn. But the moon Titan has a lot to offer of scraping together enough polly to get rich and
that may be worth such a long voyage. retire to one of the large stations in the inner solar
system. In reality, many get stuck among the meth-
TITAN ane lakes and ice geysers, and the people making
Titan is a cold place. The waves of its methane seas the real money are the traders in Chronos.
are constantly crashing against everlasting ice cliffs Prospectors must be able to find deposits, get
as hard as rock, and its dense nitrogen atmosphere to them, and mine them while trying to survive
sends the −180 °C methane rain lashing against the −180 °C methane storms. Deposits are usually
the visor of anyone who braves perhaps the most located using old map data. It is not uncommon
inhospitable place in the solar system next to Venus. for some eager amateur from the inner reaches
Still, there are reasons to come here. Titan’s of the solar system to show up with a couple of
atmosphere, like its methane lakes and rivers, is pre-­war map positions and hook up with some
full of complex hydrocarbons. The moon is essen- seasoned prospectors who agree to share the profit
tially one big frozen oil field. It is the only place in equally. In most cases it does not end well for the
the solar system (other than Earth) where one can amateur once the deposit is found – and even
find the substances needed to keep the life support worse if it is not.
systems of ships and stations running. Prospectors use all manner of strange vehicles
On Titan it is also possible to find raw materials to get to their deposits. Hovercrafts, methane-­diving
for the polymer printers that still work. Anyone who mini-­submarines, giant multi-­wheeled cars, or eye-­
finds a new polymer deposit (“polly”) and manages catching aircraft – all powered by rumbling, sput-
to bring it to the Chronos spaceport without getting tering diesel engines. If there is one thing Titan
robbed along the way can make a tidy profit. has plenty of, it is fuel.
But polly cannot simply be fished from the meth- The aircraft deserve special mention. Titan’s
ane seas. The best deposits lie deep down in glacial combination of an atmosphere denser than Earth’s
crevasses, near ice volcanoes breaking through the and gravity weaker than Luna’s makes the cold
icescape, and in the depths of the subsurface oceans, moon uniquely suited to aviation. Giant gondolas
where the abandoned underwater platform Nautilus with great sweeping wings ride the winds but must
is also said to be located.

CHRONOS
watch out for pilots in wingsuits jumping from
airships and gliding toward their destinations, or
methane pirates emerging from the thick fog in
08
One of Titan’s spaceports is still in operation: Chro- their triplanes.
nos. Once a high-­tech marvel of process manufac-
turing, all that is left from the war are the skeletons
of cisterns, connected by a web of pipes and wires FARTHER OUT
– from finger-­thick cables to the many meters wide There are rumors of expeditions venturing even
ducts now used to transport people between differ- further out than Saturn, to Neptune’s moon Tri-
ent parts of the city. ton or the dwarf planet Pluto. The distances in the
In addition to the spaceport, the city is a sim- outer solar system are so immense that even with
mering cauldron of bubbling hydrocarbons and a powerful engine it would take months or years
residue from the restored refineries. The flames to cover them.

131
AD ASTRA

INDEX
A Events on a Space L Security Robots (NPCs) 43
The Ad Astra 8, 12, 94–97 Station 118–119 Luger’s Bitterhounds Selene 35–47
Agaton “Bamba” Kubb The Eye of Odin 8, 85–99 (creatures) 72 Settlers (NPCs) 71
(NPC) 29 Luna 10 Ship Stats 108
The Amaryllis (passenger F Lusifer Brylling (NPC) 72 Skills 104–105
ship) 117 Flying Ace (talent) 106 The Solar System 10,
Angus Korsakoff (NPC) 72 Free-Floater (talent) 106 M 125–131
Animal Powers 107 Frontrik’s Goons (NPCs) 73 Magnetic Pistol 121 Space Battles 115–116
APEX (NPC) 42 Fyodor FJT216 Marcus Luger, director Space Events 110–114
Asa Eso, space train (NPC) 51 (NPC) 72 Space Lice (creatures) 57
driver (NPC) 66 Fyodor FJT216 (NPC) 57 The Mariner Valley 78–82 Space Scrap 122
The Asteroid Belt 10, 128–129 Mars 10, 61–83, 127 Spaceships 108–110
G Mars Bus 122 Spaceships, typical 117
B Ganymede 130 Mechanics (NPCs) 30 Space Stations 128–129
Basilisks (creatures) 127 Gauss Pistol 121 Mercury 10, 125–126 Space Suits 120
The Beast (creature) 82 Gear 120–122 Motorhead (talent) 106 Space Thugs (NPCs) 31
Big Bert 26 Granny GRN216, The Mundilfari 20, 26–27 The Space Train 62–68
Biomechatronics 107 gardener (NPC) 29 Muscovites (NPCs) 77 Space Travel 108–109
The Bull (mining ship) 117 The Gray Guard (NPCs) 28 Mutations 106–107 Spare Parts 120
Grub 117 The Surface of Mars 77–78
C The Guardians (NPCs) 97 N
Callisto 130–131 Gunda Svylse, barkeep New Talents 106 T
Ceres Four, bounty hunter (NPC) 71 NXO313 (NPC) 71 Tinka Korsakoff, village
(NPC) 51, 65, 82–83 Gunder Fyr, reactor elder (NPC) 80
The Children of Dust operator (NPC) 28 O Titan 131
(NPCs) 80 Gyroscope (general Octomares (NPCs) 50, 56 Travel Time in the Solar
Chronos 131 secondary function) 107 ODIN 95 System 110
Circia AZR012, Informatician Odinite (NPCs) 92 Tumbling 101
leader (NPC) 45 I The Odinites 8 Tuva Synk, space train
Climber (animal power) 107 Idun 49–59 The Orion (gunship) 53 engineer (NPC) 66
Command (skill) 104 Ijon Pirx (IJN011), rebel Oxa Brylling, foreman
Comprehend (skill) 104 leader (NPC) 44 (NPC) 91 U
Conrad Frontrik, commander Insect Wings (mutation) 107 Oxygen Bubble 121 The Underfolk (NPCs) 30
(NPC) 73 Io 129–130 Oxygen Catalyst 122
The Core Engine 12, 97 Irina Mogens, trader Oxygen Tent 121 V
The Culvert King (NPC) 29 (NPC) 66 Vacutol 122
The Cutlass (pirate ship) 117 P Vacuum 101
J Pilot (role) 102–103 Vacuum Hardened
D Jalkut Fylking, bounty Project Asmegir 6 (mutation) 106
Dirac Thirteen (NPC) hunter (NPC) 66 Venus 10, 126–127
18, 80–81 Jotunheim 5, 9, 15, 17–33 R The Verdandi (trading
Disguised Mutants (NPCs) 44 Jotunheimer, typical Rebel, typical (NPCs) 45 ship) 117
The Domed City 70–77 (NPCs) 28 Refaim, dr. (NPC) 7, 94–95 Verika, pirate queen (NPC) 31
Drive (skill) 104 Junker Abraham, bus Refiner (NPCs) 91 Verika’s Pirates (NPCs) 31
Drone Pilot (talent) 106 driver (NPC) 72 Rosenquist, conductor
Dune Pirates (NPCs) 77 Jupiter 10, 129–131 (NPC) 65 W
Jury-Rig (skill) 104 The Rot Divers (NPCs) 127 Water 117
E The Rust Fleet 32, 128 Weightlessness 101
Earth’s Orbit 127 K
Errol Dunkel, zone Katya Retzius, dockmaster S
traveler (NPC) 67 (NPC) 30 Sastria, commander (NPC) 28
Europa 130 Know the Zone (skill) 104 Saturn 10, 131
Evasive Maneuver (talent) 106 Scrap Rocket Launcher 121

132
Through the tiny portholes of the space capsule, you see the city hanging
weightlessly beneath the stars – massive, sprawling, gleaming. A myriad of
metal shapes connected by tubes and wires, like a huge hanging mobile over
Earth, the poisoned cradle of humanity.

The thrusters of your capsule push you onward through the maze of wires and
ladders. Drawing closer, it becomes clear that there is something wrong with
this star city. You float past large holes, torn wires, and cracked satellite dishes.
It seems the Apocalypse reached all the way to the heavens.

Ad Astra is a thrilling campaign module for Mutant: Year Zero that takes the player characters
from the devastated surface of Earth into orbit, out into the solar system, and perhaps further still.
Ad Astra can be played stand-alone or as a direct continuation of the Path to Eden ­campaign
in the Mutant: Year Zero core rulebook.

The book also includes rules for playing Mutant: Year Zero in space and an overview of the
solar system with ideas for further adventures.

ISBN 978-91-89765-18-4
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