PRESENTS

A ROLE-PLAYING GAME
OF SCI-FI HORROR
WRITTEN BY GRANT HOWITT // CHRIS TAYLOR
ART BY PYE PARR

Space interns venture into the darkness of their own ship in a roleplaying game for up to seven players, containing:
COMPLETE RULES // MAPS & HANDOUTS // CHARACTER SHEETS
A THREE-SESSION ADVENTURE 1
 Adventure is a role-playing game for three to six players (you NEW TO RPGS?
could play with as few as two, but it’s not recommended).
Beyond what is provided by the magazine, players will need A role-playing game, or RPG, is a game about shared
a few pencils and three standard six-sided dice (having a set storytelling. One player will host the game, guiding the other
each is nice, but not strictly necessary). players’ characters (the Protagonists) through the twists and
turns of the story, playing the role of other characters when
If you bought this magazine, odds are you’ll be the GM. If needed. This player is called the Games Master (GM), but
you are not the GM, do not read beyond this page! really they’re just another player with a different role. It’s
The GM needs to keep secrets from the others. The GM will everyone’s responsibility to drive the story forward and
ideally read the entire magazine before you sit down to play. make sure you’re all having a good time.
Each issue of Adventure tells a complete stand-alone story, There are no boards or cards: the story mainly exists in the
split into chapters. Each chapter is designed to be a single imagination of the players. The GM will use their booklets
session of play, but how you space them out is up to you. It and handouts to outline events and locations, while the
could be a whole weekend’s worth of play, or a couple of other players will use their character sheets to see what their
evenings over the course of a month. You might need to split Protagonists are capable of then decide what to do.
a chapter over two sessions.
An adventure runs on exciting risks, and not knowing how
This game includes: those risks will resolve. When the Protagonists take risks,
• This adventure booklet. such as getting into a conflict, they will roll three dice. Then
the GM and the relevant player interpret the results and
• An eight-page GM’s reference booklet incorporate it into the story.
• A rules sheet.
• 6 player handouts, each including the same letter and ship HOW TO USE THIS MAGAZINE
guide, and a unique character sheet.
The GM should pull out each section in the order listed,
• Two sheets with additional copies of key maps to be kept by giving the rules and character sheets to the other players,
the GM for optional use. and keep all other elements secret. The other players should
Digital copies of some of these handouts to support online each pick the Protagonist they would like to play as, and
play are available for free at give them a name.

www.rebellionunplugged.com If some people haven’t played before, have someone read

the sheet titled ‘How to Play’ aloud, and leave it within
everyone’s reach. Once this is finished you’re ready to
begin.

IF YOU ARE NOT THE GM, DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS PAGE!

WRITTEN BY GRANT HOWITT & CHRIS TAYLOR

ART, GRAPHIC DESIGN & LAYOUT BY PYE PARR
SENSITIVITY CONSULTATION BY JAMES MENDEZ-HODES

Adventure Presents: Tartarus Gate

Published by Rebellion, Riverside House, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 0ES. All purely coincidental. Adventure must not be sold at more than the recommended
contents © 2020 Rebellion Unplugged Ltd unless otherwise stated. All rights selling price shown on the cover. Printed in the UK by PCP. ISBN 9781781089491.
reserved. Reproduction, storage in a retrieval system or transmission in any form or The core rules for Adventure are written by Duncan Molloy, with thanks to Paul
by any means in whole or part without prior permission of Rebellion Unplugged Ltd Alexander Butler, Grant Howitt, James Mendez-Hodes & Christopher Taylor.
is strictly forbidden. No similarity between any of the fictional names, characters,
Distribution and trade enquiries: [email protected]
persons and/or institutions herein with those of any living or dead persons or
institutions is intended (except for satirical purposes) and any such similarity is WEBSTORE www.rebellionunplugged.com

2
 It’s the year 2130. You are an unpaid intern
aboard the transport ship Charon, entrusted with
shepherding cargo from Earth to the Tartarus Gate
Waystation. You don’t especially like your job, but it
beats working in the data mines or on the front lines
of the Distributor Wars.
You spend most of your time in suspended
animation and are occasionally awoken by the
ship’s AI to solve problems – replacing fuses,
mopping up spills, unplugging and plugging things
in again, the usual. You’re earning Employment
Credits rather than money (and who uses money
anymore?) – get enough and you’ll be given a job
on Tartarus Gate. Things could be worse.
Things could be a lot worse.

3
 TARTARUS GATE ADVENTURE BOOK

RUNNING THE GAME WHAT THE PROTAGONISTS KNOW

This booklet forms the main content of the adventure, along It’s the future. Humans have colonised space, and corporations
with your map handouts and the GM reference booklet. have colonised humanity, up to and including waging war with
This booklet details the games locations and events, while each other. Earth is mostly a wasteland.
the reference booklet lists the main characters, as well as
Tartarus Gate is an entirely new station on the fringes of known
additional useful information.
space run by the OBOL Corporation. The station will provide its
There are three fully illustrated maps to help visualise fight many inhabitants with a fresh start – something that each of the
sequences on pages 11, 16 and 21. Each has an extra copy, Protagonists is looking for. An internship on the starship Charon
which you can pass to your players should you wish. will get them there.

Don’t take what’s in either booklet as gospel: add, change or

ignore anything you want, whether before you run the game or WHAT THE PROTAGONISTS
improvising on the fly. Are your players really suffering, and not DO NOT KNOW
having fun? Feel free to remove enemies or lower their health
or stats. Keep an eye on your players and try to give them what The OBOL Corporation have appointed themselves as judges of
they want: having fun as a group is the point of the game. humanity: they view the population of what remains of Earth
(and the dozen or so shabby colonies nearby) as morally bankrupt
degenerates who need the fear of God put into them. Seeing as
CONTENT WARNING God is not available for comment, they’re taking matters into
their own hands.
Tartarus Gate is a sci-fi horror game. It’s about a very large
corporation deciding to act as the moral arbiters of humanity, Tartarus Gate is a huge server complex where the forcibly
while treating their staff very badly. Key themes are civilian downloaded consciousnesses of executed sinners – sinners in
attacks during war, sentient AI, body horror, demonic OBOL’s eyes, at least – are tormented for eternity. It is a digital
possession, and the concept of eternal damnation. You can Hell, built to bring the fear of eternal damnation back into
dial up or down the extent to which these are explored, but humanity’s mind, and to restore them to a righteous path.
they’re definitely all present. Charon is one of eight similar ships at different stages of the
Some players may find the questions in Motivational same journey to Tartarus Gate. The data storage in the basement
Assessment on page six to be too intense – change them if houses the minds of several thousand rebels who tried to
necessary. establish their independence on Earth and fought a brutal war
against OBOL.
At present, OBOL are not releasing information about Tartarus
CHAPTER BREAKDOWN Gate’s true purpose to the public – they’re still in alpha testing,
Tartarus Gate is intended to be three sessions long, though it and expect to stay there for another twenty years. Plus, they
could easily run shorter or longer than that. Each of the three don’t have enough political sway to establish a new galactic
sessions is roughly detailed below. Hell. Yet. They made sure to tell the rebels what their plans were
before they killed them, though.
Chapter 1: Reanimation
The Protagonists are woken by Assisti, the ship’s AI, and are But the souls of the angry dead do not rest easy. In the depths
led through reawakening protocols. Once these are over, of the ship, their ghosts have risen and possessed the bodies
they learn that communications between the cargo bay of OBOL employees kept frozen in suspended animation. They
and the rest of the ship have been severed. As they prepare are attempting to reach the Communications Bridge of the
to descend into the depths of Charon they find a bloodless, ship and escape their fate. Some have crawled through the
gap between the interior and exterior walls of the ship; others
mangled corpse in the maintenance passageway, and have a
are trying to break open the doors that allow access to the
first confrontation with Dwyer.
upper levels. At some point soon, one of the groups is going
Chapter 2: Descent to succeed. When their host bodies die, their memory files are
The Protagonists move through the engine rooms and into the permanently corrupted – a true death – but they’ve got very
cargo hold, meeting Yasin as they do. They explore the cargo little to lose.
hold, gather supplies, and realise that the ship is changing to
What’s worse, the leader of the rebels – Dwyer – and his
resemble the rebels’ last stand.
lieutenant known as Yasin, are angry and vital enough to possess
Chapter 3: Rebellion bodies over and over after they’re destroyed, and they twist
The Protagonists enter a dreamscape – the bloody Charnel and warp each successive host into terrifying shapes. Dwyer is
Corridors, and the ruins of Dywer’s palace – and have the so furious that he’s twisted the bottom level of the ship into
option to put his ghost, and the rest of the ghosts on board, a hellscape: the scene of the rebels’ defeat on Earth as OBOL
to rest. arrived and destroyed everything they’d built.
4
The rebels have hatched a plan to steer the ship back into Earth VISIONS
orbit, upload themselves to the OBOL Headquarters server
Included, where appropriate, are visions or hallucinations
farms, and destroy it from within. They view the Protagonists
that the Protagonists can witness as they enter new areas.
and the people on board as either collaborators or acceptable
With these, you can deliver information about the setting that
casualties.
they might not otherwise know, and hint at the supernatural
nature of what’s going on.

5
 CHAPTER 1: REANIMATION ADVENTURE BOOK

The Protagonists begin in their Deep Sleep pods, where they are
simultaneously awoken by Assisti. They all know each other, and Veteran: You’re a soldier. You’re fighting for control of a city.
have had work duty together in the past, but it’s unusual for a large A member of your work group says they saw a friend of theirs
group to be woken together. It takes about an hour to get over injured in the street outside, but you know that friend died last
the reanimation sickness, despite the nausea suppressants and week. What do you do?
amphetamines that are administered by the AI. Assisti requests
Influencer: You’re a child. An older, much more physically
that they head to the Break Room so they can lead them through
powerful child takes your bag and starts to go through it and
the Reanimation Protocol as a group to get them ready for action.
shows your private things to their friends whilst laughing.
Assisti leads each Protagonist through a quick program designed What do you do?
to assess (and perhaps undo) the damage caused to their bodies
Scavenger: You’re cheating on your partner. They don’t have
and brains by the Deep Sleep process. This is a chance to let people
proof, but they confront you about it, and they’re upset. Your
get into their characters, and for them to introduce themselves
to one another as the game begins. Have them describe the best friend told them about it. What do you do?
Protagonists’ actions when they succeed or fail. There is no direct Enforcer: You’re a VIGIL agent. A known racist, despised in the
consequence of failure, but Assisti should imply that it will be community, is being beaten by two other people. You receive
noted on their records in some vaguely ominous way. a contract to stop the attack and bring their attackers in for
First is a shared muscular assessment. The Protagonists are instructed punishment. What do you do?
to perform long stretches and various cobbled-together yogic vinyasas Graphic Designer: You’re waiting in line for a vaccination jab.
(depicted via AR) to “wake up” their muscles. Test Agility (6): have the Someone pushes in front of you. When you reach the front of
players all roll at the same time if there are enough dice. the line, you’re told that there aren’t any more vaccinations
Second is the individual mnemonic assessment. Each Protagonist is left. The person who pushed in hasn’t been injected yet. What
asked their name, what they were doing before this work placement, do you do?
their favourite pastime, and why they’re interested in joining the True Believer: You’re in a big, dark room. There are more
OBOL Corporation. Test Smarts (6): failure indicates that they give delicious cupcakes on the table in front of you than you can
conflicting information compared to their initial interview, possibly easily count – at least six hundred, all piled up. You’ve been
due to the brain-fog from the Deep Sleep.
told not to eat any and are left alone in the room. Time has
Finally, in the motivational assessment, each Protagonist is asked passed. You’re hungry. What do you do?
the question from the list below specific to them. They must answer
it, then test Wits (7). If successful, they give what Assisti considers
to be the “right” answer and are congratulated; otherwise, Assisti Once the reanimation protocols are complete Assisti informs the
moves on without commenting more. Have Assisti create a group that their supervisor Nazari would like them to look into a
visualisation of these scenarios via the AR if it is more fun to do so. diagnostic issue in the Monitoring Station.

6
EMPLOYEE QUARTERS
There are six coffin-shaped Deep Sleep pods, each intended
for use by a single employee. At the far end of the room
are showers and toilets, set in cubicles. If any of the
Protagonists are unclaimed by players, they remain in Deep
Sleep throughout the adventure. If an active character dies
during the first or second session, you can wake up one of
the other employees in Deep Sleep and have that player 3x BLACKOUT
take control of them. A catch-all term for the synthesised alcohol dispensed from
corporate vending machines. Available flavours are: classic,
blue, and singlemalt™. Reduces your Wits by 1 until the end
BREAK ROOM of the Chapter, but gives you 3 additional Resolve. These can
temporarily increase your Resolve above its starting value.
An uncomfortable, weird-smelling hall. At one end of the room One use per game.
there are a few tables and chairs and a “kitchenette” which
contains a sink and a broken hot plate. 5x CAF
A shot of jet-black synthetic caffeine. Increase your Wits by 1
The kitchen cupboards contain whatever snacks and for your next three rolls, whether they use Wits or not. One
refreshments are left after a couple of years of deep-space use per game.
travel (actual nutrition is handled via IV drip whilst in Deep
Sleep), see the adjacent list. 15x PRO-BAR
A nutritious soy-protein bar. Take a breather and eat one to
Hanging from the roof in the centre of the room is a recreational restore 2 health. One use per game.
emitter – it broadcasts AR to the entire room. This allows
employees to play virtual basketball (it’s a bit glitchy and the 9x VAP-R
player upgrades are overpowered), enjoy AR dramas from A disposable electronic cigarette: twist it to mix the chemicals
the ship’s entertainment servers, and fulfil their mandatory inside and heat up the liquid into vapour, then breathe it in.
Health and Safety training with a series of uninformative, but Available flavours are coffee-cake, menthol and tobacco. Take a
interactive, educational exercises. breather and inhale one to restore 1 Resolve. One use per game.

7
 MEETING ROOM
A table and chairs, with a large screen mounted on the back
wall. There’s a water-cooler in the corner of the room – the
water currently tastes of plastic.
The only route to the Communications Bridge is behind the
screen. Breaking through it in a hurry requires a Toughness
(10) test, but Protagonists will have to crawl up a tight
access tunnel not really intended for use by humans. This
isn’t signposted at all: OBOL don’t want their employees to
go up there.
EVENT
If they wish to speak to Nazari, there’ll be a couple of
moments’ delay before the video connection is made. Give
them a little breathing room to interact before Nazari
appears on the screen. They can ask Nazari any questions
about their assignment.
EASY ANSWERS TO DIFFICULT QUESTIONS
What are we transporting?
Our cargo mainly comprises of luxury goods and employees in
cold storage. We’re taking them to Tartarus Gate.
What does the OBOL Corporation do?
We’re a multi-stellar conglomerate devoted to active consumer
solutions. We’re the fastest-growing business within our sector
– we’ve won three corporate wars this year alone!
Why can’t we get to the Bridge?
There’s no need for colleagues to enter the Bridge – it’s all
handled by computer. I don’t know if there’s a way to reach
it directly.
Why can’t we just lock the doors and wait?
That’s a problem-forward solution, and we want to create
solution-forward solutions – as we outlined in our training
videos.
COMMUNICATIONS BRIDGE
This area is only intended for maintenance and data retrieval
Where are you, and where are we?
at port. As a result there’s barely enough space in this
I’m in Earth orbit. You’re about a year’s travel away from Earth
cramped chamber for two people to fit; the walls bristle with
towards Tartarus Gate. protruding meters, flickering screens, and data relays.
What do we get for going down into the Cargo Hold? Charon is not designed to be piloted by a human agent, and
We’d be really thankful for your contribution, and reward so direct control of the ship is impossible from within – the
you with a sizeable chunk of employee credits – 20,000 or so, ship receives occasional updates from Earth orbit which
depending on performance – which you could use to purchase a corrects its course en route to Tartarus Gate. However, with
guaranteed, respectable role on Tartarus Gate. a Smarts (10) test a Protagonist could reroute it to a different
course or destination by using the awkward input systems on
Why is there so much data storage on board?
the bridge.
One of OBOL’s main proficiencies is data storage and
transmission over large distances; we’re transporting The rebels’ ultimate goal is to reach this chamber and reroute
information vital to the ongoing Tartarus Gate project. the ship back to Earth orbit where they can strike directly at
OBOL’s headquarters.
Hang on, are these people possessed? Are there ghosts in
here? (Or any other question about the supernatural) Nazari and Assisti are technically here – their spirits are,
From the looks of things we’re experiencing a lot of unexpected anyway. If you wanted to threaten them, disable them or get
issues on board Charon at the moment. I’ve forwarded your them off the ship, you would need to extract their hard drives
concerns to my manager, and we can expect to hear back from from the mess.
them soon. For now, we’d really like you to focus on pushing There’s nothing here for the Protagonists at the moment,
forward and overcoming this challenge! but they may return here in a later Chapter.

8
MONITORING STATION HEAT SHIELD
Banks of screens and monitoring equipment line the walls This chamber has Gear (listed below) hanging from hooks on
– it’s one of the largest areas in the crew quarters. Here one wall. Each comes with an AR-readout attached to it that
employees use diagnostic equipment to identify problems explains how the item functions. There’s a hatch at the far
and create solutions: usually restarting the internal systems end that leads to the engine room.
and letting the reboot take care of it, but occasionally EVENT
tweaking a few settings to smooth things out.
The first thing the Protagonists will notice here is a corpse.
EVENT
Many of the corpse’s fingers are broken and several joints are
Right after the Protagonists enter the Monitoring Station, dislocated – they’re lying in a crumpled heap on the floor. A
it all but shuts down. There’s no video feed from anywhere Wits (8) test reveals that they broke into the room through a
lower than the ductway, and attempts to reroute it fail. ventilation shaft that’s no bigger than a foot across and died
What little data is getting through is patchy and incomplete in here.
– strange errors that the Protagonists don’t recognise, data
They’ve written “JUSTICE” on the wall in their own blood, and
which seems obviously false, and so on. The usual turning
scrawled the hooked spear emblem of the Earth revolution.
things off and on again is not going to cut it this time.
Nazari or Assisti will describe it as a terrorist symbol. That
Navari lays out the problem: communications with the lower seemed to be the last thing that they had strength to do;
levels have been severed and the Protagonists will need to testing Smarts (8) to investigate the body reveals that they
investigate the strange data readings themselves, then solve died from blood loss.
the problem as best they can.
2 BULKY ENVIRONMENT SUITS
Reduces your Agility and Wits by 1, but provides 7 extra Health.
These Health points are lost before others, they can’t be
replenished by healing, and once they’re gone the environment
suit is tattered and useless.
FIELD SCANNER
This backpack-sized device allows the user to scan their
surroundings for unusual or interesting phenomena. It counts as
2 items (backpack and hand-held scanner) and using it properly
requires a few minutes and a successful Smarts (7) test.
REMOTE MEETING ROOM
A sizeable electronic device in OBOL company colours. Put
it down on any metal surface and it will use the structure
of the ship itself to extend the range of the meeting room’s
communication array, allowing the players to chat to Nazari
wherever they are. Their supervisor manifests as an AR
projection, and they’re able to see and hear anything that
happens in the area immediately around the device. Two uses.

9
 As soon as the Protagonists enter the Engine Room, Assisti will seal They snap back to full consciousness, their noses dripping blood,
the door behind them. The door shows signs of an attempted forced and hear the clang-clang-clang of metal on metal reverberating
entry on this side. through the corridors (it’s Dwyer, bouncing his spear off the walls
to intimidate them). Each Protagonist tests Wits (6). If they fail
The pulsing emergency lighting and the roar of the engine noise
they lose 1 Resolve. Dwyer reveals himself from the shadows,
overwhelm the Protagonists’ senses before they have a chance to
bloody, spear in hand.
wander off. They taste blood in their mouths, feel a ringing in their
ears, and they have a vision of things that aren’t real. Paraphrase If it’s taken a long time to get here, end the Chapter on this reveal
this to the players, or read it aloud: and start the next chapter in media res. If not, end the Chapter after
this Conflict when the Protagonists realise they have to press further
A banner, red, showing a hooked spear. The streak of retro- into the ship.
thrusters in atmosphere. The sound of gunfire, sharp and clear, Dwyer is accompanied by 1–3 Followers (depending on the number
echoing across a city. Dwyer, the hero. Dwyer, our leader. Dwyer, of Protagonists), who the players haven’t noticed yet. He’ll draw
the insurrectionist. the attention of the Protagonists while the Followers attempt to
sneak up behind them. He’s angry and out for blood, and he knows
he can return to “life” after he’s been killed.
Place them in separate locations. Perhaps Dwyer on the stairs
and the Followers hiding behind the central console, or Dwyer at
the main platform with the Followers hiding under the bridge. If
the Protagonists attack Dwyer or see the Followers coming, roll
for Conflict. If not, one or two Followers attack the Protagonists
and then Conflict is rolled. The fight continues until Dwyer and
his Followers are dead. With the way back to the previous level
sealed, the Protagonists have to press ahead to the Ductway. End
the Chapter here if you’ve not already done so.

ENGINE ROOM
In here the roar of engine noise fills the air. Fuel – the air
stinks of it – is stored in several tanks that tower over the
heads of the Protagonists, and – despite the shielding – this
room is hotter than anywhere else on board. It’s dark in here,
too; red emergency lighting does little to illuminate the maze
of machinery. Anyone who looks for one can find a pipe to use
as an improvised weapon with a Wits (6) test. If successful
they’ll find a Heavy Pipe; if not they’ll find some junk which
offers no particular bonus in combat.
A cracked wall panel in here is dangerously hot from
the engines: the air around it shimmers and the metal is
scorched and warped. Anyone who gets pushed into it loses
3 Health.

HEAVY PIPE
When you attack, lower your Toughness by 1 (it’s unwieldy
and tiring) but add an extra 2 damage. Four successful uses
before it breaks or bends into uselessness.

10
11
 CHAPTER 2: DESCENT ADVENTURE BOOK

After the chaos and heat of the Engine Room, the Upper Ductway
is far too quiet. A large central shaft ringed with creaking ladders “You hear the scraping of half-dead hands against glass
and unstable walkways allows access to the lower parts of the and smell acrid rejuvenation chemicals pooled on the floor.
ship – in the darkness around them, the Protagonists can hear And then blood in your mouth again, the sense that you’re
the occasional bump and shuffle as though something is moving receiving information from somewhere else, an unreal world
through the walls. overlaid on your own:

Once they reach the Lower Ductway this Chapter is mostly led A banner, red, showing a hooked spear. Innumerable hearts
by the Protagonists. As such it’s laid out a little differently – each yearning to be free. A new nation, sacred and scared, standing
location has something to offer, and the players can follow their before the world. Executions. Spinal cords, severed. The fizz-
instincts and investigate as much or as little as they desire. Feel crack and static stink of neural extraction. Yasin, the diplomat.
free to use Yasin, or the other characters listed in the booklet, to Yasin, Dwyer’s red right hand. Yasin, a liar and a cheat.
guide them in fun story directions. Your heartbeat thunders in your ears as the vision fades.”
The Protagonists will have another vision in this Chapter. Decide
which moment is the most dramatically appropriate, then read or The Chapter can end with the Protagonists barricading themselves
paraphrase this to the players: into Hydroponics for a breather, or when they enter the Server
rooms and realise that it’s been transformed into the Charnel
Corridors. Try to guide the players towards the first option if the
Protagonists are running low on Health or Resolve.
12
UPPER DUCTWAY LOWER DUCTWAY
This section descends around a hundred feet and bridges the This is a long corridor with two sets of steps downward
gap between the cargo and the ship itself; Protagonists will at either end: one to Cold Storage, and another to the
clamber down steel ladders and echoing stairwells en route Cargo Hold. At the base of the stairwell, the hard-line data
to the Lower Ductway below. connection between the cargo section and rest of the ship
EVENT has been severed with a burnt-out improvised thermal
As the Protagonists clamber down the ductways, two things lance. There’s no way of repairing this now; they’ll need to
happen: firstly, the platform that they’re walking on will investigate the situation themselves.
EVENT
shudder and partially collapse, prompting an Agility (5) check
to land safely on the level below (failure incurs 3 damage). Hiding in the shadows at the base of the ductway is Yasin,
Secondly, a Follower who has climbed up the outer wall of the Dwyer’s second-in-command. They’re possessing the body
chamber in air-vents begins to hurl debris at the protagonists of Qureshi – one of the OBOL employees from Cold Storage
from the darkness; while this is unlikely to cause damage on on the section beneath. They are able to hide the fact that
its own, it could cause them to trip and fall. Passing a Smarts they’re a ghost possessing a half-frozen body; if they’re hurt,
(5) check can close off the air vents; a successful Wits (6) the illusion falls and the body manifests signs of death (see
check could allow a protagonist to spot a route with cover; a Yasin’s special rules on page 5 of the GM reference).
Toughness (7) check could let them wrench a panel off the wall
Qureshi claims they woke up in Cold Storage and saw crazed
to act as a shield; or any other suitably clever work-around
employees ripping off the wall panels and trying to force their
backed up with a check will do fine. If the Protagonists don’t
way inside. After escaping, they hid in the shadows in here
deal with the rebel, each of them should make an Agility (4)
to throw off the attention of their leader – Dwyer and his
check as they climb; failure indicates a bad fall, and 7 damage.
Followers, who the Protagonists met in the engine room. They
say they know a lot about the ship, because they helped design
it. (This is a lie, but Yasin is willing to bluff their way through.)

13
 CARGO HOLD EVENT
This cavernous space contains somewhere in the region of Yasin is also here, disguised as a survivor who managed to
three hundred metal and plastic crates; they hold things that “throw off” their possession the name on their jumpsuit, and
the synthesisers on Tartarus Gate can’t produce efficiently or the one they’re going by now, is Karimov. “Karimov” hides
accurately, such as clothes, perfumes, freeze-dried real coffee; the behind a stack of crates looking terrified, and asks for help
rest of the cargo is precious metals for manufacturing purposes. from the Protagonists – they’re a doctor, and offer to tend to
their wounds in return. (They are a doctor, or at least Yasin is,
Some of the crates have been torn or smashed open by the rebels
and they’ll be able to restore 4 Health to anyone by spending
looking for useful supplies, but it looks as though they gave up
a few minutes patching them up with improvised supplies.)
pretty quickly.
If Qureshi is with the Protagonists, Yasin will flit back and forth
In the North-East corner is a tiny stock of weapons intended as
between possessing them and Karimov whenever no-one’s
a promotion for a third-party security firm – everything in the
looking if it will help their ruse. Whichever body they aren’t
cache contains a novelty logo for CLAVEL Corporation. Nazari can
grant access to the locked steel container, or a Protagonist can currently possessing lays immobile on the floor with puffy,
circumvent the security measures with a Smarts (8) test: failure bloated skin like a drowned corpse. Yasin’s aim is to learn about
triggers an alarm which will alert the rebels to their presence. the Protagonists and subvert their attempts to stop the rebels’
escape plans, but they’ll slip up at some point.

3 GUARDIAN DISPOSABLE BURST-PISTOLS

Sealed plastic units with an internal magazine . Widely regarded as
terrible guns; included as part of a cross-promotional campaign.
Attack at range and inflict 2 extra damage if successful. Five
uses; discard when empty.
1 RAMPANT-PATTERN CROWD-CONTROL SHOTGUN
Fires fragmenting ammo designed to injure and maim but leave
the sometimes-fragile walls of a space station intact.
Attack at range and inflict 2 extra damage if successful, or 4
extra damage against a crowd of Followers. Four uses.
2 SHOTGUN MAGAZINES
Crimson cylinders of ammunition for the shotgun – using one
restores the shotgun to its starting value of four uses. One use.
2 STUN-BATONS
Test Agility versus target’s Toughness to attack with the baton:
if successful, the target is stunned for thirty seconds and spasms
wildly. Four uses.
3 MEDKITS
Test Smarts (8) to heal someone within arm’s reach – this
takes a couple of minutes and serious concentration. The test
is Smarts (6) if you’ve barricaded yourself somewhere secure
with time to spare. If successful, the target restores up to 6
health. One use.
2 TIKOS-PATTERN EMERGENCY BARRICADES
These burst ten seconds after they’re fixed to a wall or floor
and primed, and flood an area the size of a regulation spaceship
corridor with rapidly-expanding foam that quickly hardens.
Anyone trapped inside the foam will be killed (or at best severely
injured). The barricade is flame-retardant and takes at least an
hour to break through with proper tools. One use.

14
COLD STORAGE EVENT
A hundred employees for Tartarus Gate were selected and placed There are a number of Followers here equal to the number
into suspended animation here. Unlike the temporary Deep Sleep of Protagonists. They’re preoccupied by trying to free others
of the Protagonists, this is long-term storage, and their bodies are from the cylinders, but loud or obvious actions on the part
frozen and pumped full of chemicals to stop them from dying. of the Protagonists can draw their attention. A Wits (5) test
reveals that some of the cylinders have been detached from
A number of the glass cylinders that housed the employees
their housings and dragged deeper into the ship.
are missing. Others are broken open: some from the inside
– leaving streaks of syrupy, black blood – and some from the There’s a maintenance hatch – just barely big enough for a
outside, smashed open using improvised tools. The others human to squeeze into painfully – with trolleys and tables
contain motionless employees, aside from one or two that have stacked in front of it to make it easier to climb in to. It
a possessed person inside who’s trying to smash their way out. looks as though the ghosts have been pushing themselves
This is where Rebirth would take place if using that option inside and crawling, bleeding and dislocated, towards the
rule (see page 2 of your reference booklet). Communications Bridge.

HYDROPONICS
Raised metal walkways allow access over the soil that covers
the floor, and fruit trees grow up towards the artificial
sunlight in the ceiling. Gardener drones hover about and
maintain the ecosystem in minute detail. There’s not much
that’s useful in Hydroponics, but it’s safe – the Protagonists
can lock the door, sit under a tree, and rest for a while to gain
2 Resolve. This would not be a bad location to end a session if
it has taken a long time to get here.

15
 CHAPTER 3: REBELLION ADVENTURE BOOK

You’ll have noticed that your map and the players’ maps are
different from here on out. Their map shows Charon as it was: a
fairly bog-standard long-haul dataship. Yours reflects the fact that
Dwyer and his rebels have, in their deathless fury, wrenched part of
it out of the real world and into a place made from their psyches.
The tunnels beneath the capital city the rebels liberated were
originally used for the mass rearing and slaughter of animals, but
it was during the rebellion that the Charnel Corridors really earned
their name. The rebels infiltrated the city using them, and butchered
their way through OBOL’s hastily-erected defences. They would go
on to hunt survivors fleeing the city through the Corridors.
The deeper the Protagonists go, the less familiar the ship
becomes, and the more overlaid it is with the dead mindscape
of the rebels. Where this corridor was once thirty feet long and
fairly uneventful, even as corridors go, it is now a tangled mess
of blood-slick gantries and strange rooms where the squeals of
dying pigs mix with the mewling cries of fatally-injured soldiers. It
is grotesque, too big, and stinks of rotting meat and piss.
As the Protagonists exit the Rearing Area, they’ll realise they’re
travelling up, not down. It’s impossible to pinpoint exactly where,
but at some point gravity – reality – shifts, and they’re emerging
into the war-torn city where the rebels made their futile last stand.
As the Protagonists enter the corridors they have a third vision:

“Your map isn’t right. This corridor doesn’t look like it should.
You check again, and – as you do – you notice blood dripping
from your nose onto your hand. Your vision swims, your head
rings, and you drop once more into a vision of a different time:
A banner, red, showing a hooked spear. Miles of flesh and
stained steel. Charnel. Charnel. An underground network
of meat, a thousand thousand beasts to feed a hungry city.
Arterial red to crusted brown. They came through this place in
grey and silver. Charnel. Charnel. We cut them down like pigs.
Our city, not theirs. Our lives, not theirs. The Charnel Corridors.
Old name given new weight.
The vision fades. As it does, the world around you refuses to
turn to normal, and the sound of buzzing flies mixes with the
rotten stink of old meat.”
EVENT
There are three encounters in this area – a fight with Dwyer,
and fights with two groups of Followers. Add them at FLICKERING VIDSCREEN
whatever moment feels appropriate: use them to heighten An image of a hooked spear stutters onscreen; static hisses
tension or drive the Protagonists forward. and blares out of malfunctioning speakers. A protagonist
Dwyer prowls the area, hunting the Protagonists. Once he gets with the relevant equipment could run AR projections
a bead on them, he’s hard to shake. If they kill him, the area through it as 2D images and sound.
stutters and overlays with the standard spaceship corridor for
a few seconds before flashing back to bloodstained horror.
If you feel they’re taking too long, Dwyer can return, more DESTROYED WALKWAY
grotesque than before.
A Destroyed Walkway has collapsed into a bloody drain below.
Two groups of Followers are roaming the halls – one group of three It’s passable, but with difficulty. There is a concealed passage
and one of two. They’re looking out for any corporate soldiers (or to the sluice under the Rotting Carcasses. The stairs to the
OBOL employees) attempting to infiltrate the city via the tunnels. Viewing Platform are wrecked; test Agility (9) to climb up.

16
 ROTTING CARCASSES
Row upon row of pig carcasses hanging from hooks. You can
move through them, or skirt around the edge of the room.
Hiding in this forest of putrid meat increases Agility by 1 when
enemies try to spot you or target you at range, but it costs
1 Resolve to enter due to nausea. Enterprising Protagonists
could make an improvised weapon out of the Meat Hooks.
On the floor are several entrances to a blood sluice, which
costs 1 Resolve to enter. Characters who are using the sluice to
hide from or evade others get a benefit to those tests. There is a
crawl space in the sluice to the base of the collapsed walkway.

Meat hooks. Impale someone on them for +2 damage:

decrease your Toughness by 1 when you attempt due to
weight and awkwardness.

PROCESSING BLADES
Test Agility (7) to move through these to the Viewing
Platform: take damage for the difference if you roll below the
target. Alternatively, sacrifice a weapon to break them. You
can kick people into them if you want them to die messily.

REARING AREA
An area where livestock was factory-farmed. Several rows of
pens line the walls – some can be closed to provide cover or
a hiding place, but they are open on top. Bodies of resistance
fighters have been dumped in many of the pens.
Exit through here to get to the Palace.

PIGS
A half-dozen malnourished pigs fighting over the mouldering
corpse of an OBOL soldier. Useful as a distraction, if you can
control them; otherwise it’s a Wits (7) test to get through the
group without spooking them.

BURNT-OUT REFRIGERATION ROOM

VIEWING PLATFORM A lockable room that would be a good temporary shelter –
Some sort of glass-walled managerial office; paperwork, test Smarts (5) to activate the corroded locking mechanism.
sturdy wooden desks, intercom unit. Gives a vantage point In one corner is a mechanical saw.
over adjacent areas; characters who want to attack or spot
something that’s below them gain a level on those rolls.
Mechanical saw. A two-handed rotary saw, still caked in
It’s accessible via the broken stairs to the Walkway, or through blood, with some charge left in the batteries. Using this in close
the Processing Blades. It’s possible to move from here to the combat will double any damage inflicted, but it’s a grim and
rearing pens by breaking glass and jumping down, but not unsettling process. Every time you inflict damage with the
vice versa. mechanical saw, lose 1 Resolve. Six uses.

17
 The Palace where Dwyer made his last stand is a layered place –
the beauty of the original is masked by the horror of the war these THE AUDIENCE CHAMBER
memories take place in, which in turn is affected by the elements
A grand open space, lavish and over-decorated, with a curved
of the ship that have been dragged in. The geography of the place
staircase at the far end that lead upwards to the rest of the
doesn’t make much sense, as is often the way with memories – the
palace. The floor is littered with corpses dressed in corporate
important places are the ones which stick out.
military uniforms and rebel fatigues – it looks as though this
The new locations correspond to areas from the ship: the Throne was the site of a bloody battle. The corpses of the rebels each
Room and Chapel are Data Storage, while the Balcony and the show burn marks on their spinal columns just below the
Audience Chamber are Server Access. base of their skulls. This is where their consciousnesses were
forcibly downloaded before they died.
The Charnel Corridors come up through a secret entrance into
the Audience Chamber. It’s breathtaking and catastrophic. There are some hard drives wired up to a portable AR projector;
Give everyone a few moments to take everything in, and have a the ghosts have been searching through the data banks and
breather after the violence of the Charnel Corridors. plugging them in to watch each other’s memories. Each hard
drive is marked with a name and a reference number.
The area around the projector is a weird mess of static and
blurred stimuli, as it’s not designed to project data this
complex. A glitched-out, stuttering image of Dwyer – before
his death – is ordering executions in the town square and a
terrified crowd looks on. The sky lights up with thrusters as
the OBOL Corporation drop into the city from orbit, then the
memory loops over from the start.

18
THE BALCONY EVENT
A grand Balcony looks out from the walls of a palace; there’s Yasin is on the Balcony, looking out over the chaos. They
no obvious way down. The capital city around them is burning. aren’t disguising themselves this time. They, more so than
People run through the streets chased by grey-armoured any of the ghosts, seem to have realised what’s going on
corporate soldiers who gun them down by the dozen; the banner in reality – that this is a projected nightmare from which
of the rebels, a red flag with a black hooked spear, is burning in there is no true escape. They’ll try to make a bargain
the centre of a great square. If someone falls or is thrown off a with the Protagonists in order to free them from digital
gust of wind will blow them back through the window onto the torment. Let the players weigh up the decision before they
staircase in The Audience Chamber. They test Agility (9), and move on.
take damage for the difference if they roll lower.

The Protagonists might choose to throw their lot in with

the rebels at this point – it’s not like the OBOL Corporation
are shining examples of morality in all this. If this happens,
progress to the Aftermath section on page 22, but with the
following rules in play:
Each Protagonist is accompanied by a rebel, or a group of
Followers, who helps them fight their way up to the Comms
room. This is represented by giving them the Protagonist the
following abilities:
Dwyer: +1 Toughness and +1 damage.
Yasin: +1 Agility and Wits.
Crowd of Followers: 6 additional health points.
Ask players what their companions are doing to help, and
describe their actions together.

19
 THE CHAPEL
This place seems to have avoided the chaos that claimed the
rest of the palace; it’s a small area set aside for prayer and
reflection, and stained-glass windows shine multi-coloured
light down onto the flagstones underfoot. The pews have been
pushed to the walls and ten or so cold storage units have been
dragged down here. The roof is old-fashioned wooden rafters.

20
 THRONE ROOM
Dwyer’s Throne Room was the centre of his kingdom, and it
was where he met his demise after corporate solders kicked
in the doors, plucked his consciousness out of his head, and
slit his throat.
There’s a raised dais with an ornate throne, and flags line the
walls. Behind one flag is a ladder to the rafters, which are
connected to the rafters in the Chapel.
EVENT
When the Protagonists enter Dwyer’s Throne Room they’ll
likely expect him to be sitting on the throne, but instead he’s
crouched in the rafters waiting to leap down and eviscerate
anyone who strays too far from the rest of the group.
The palace is held together by his furious spirit, enraged at the
manner of his death. If the Protagonists kill him, the projected
reality around them stutters; they’re in the databanks of the
ship and the Throne Room at the same time. Dwyer’s spirit
awakens in a body stored in the Chapel and punches its way
through the glass, even more monstrous than before, then
races towards the Protagonists to stop them from deleting
his consciousness from the databanks.
While Dwyer is not in the room, the Protagonists can interact
with the databanks as they flicker into view. They should know
by know that this is where the souls of the Rebels are stored –
if they really haven’t gotten it then have Assisti or Nazari talk
to them when the ship flickers back into existence. Finding
and deleting a specific hard drive on the attached database is
a Smarts test (9); smashing them all to bits until they hit the
one they need is a Toughness test (10).
Each failed roll brings Dwyer closer to the Protagonists: after
three or four, he’ll be back in a new body (unless they block
the door or kill the cold-storage employees in the chapel). The
Protagonists can hear the sound of breaking glass each time
they fail a roll.
Once Dwyer’s hard drive is destroyed, wiped, or pulled out of
the network, the palace flickers out of existence and Charon
returns to its original state – some boring-looking corridors
and warehouses. With Dwyer dead, the immediate threat to
the Protagonists is undone, and the rebels are without a leader.

EVENT
Eight or so of the cylinders in the Chapel are smashed open,
and the remainder have employees unconscious within. This
is where Dwyer has been possessing new bodies after he’s
been defeated – a Smarts (7) test will reveal that they’ve been
opened one by one.
Cracking open the cylinders requires a Toughness test (8) and
appropriate tools: failure indicates that the noise of doing so
has alerted Dwyer in the Throne Room to the Protagonists’
presence (he won’t fight them in the Chapel though, he’ll
wait for them to leave that room). The only way to guarantee
that the ghosts won’t possess the employees is to kill them –
the after-effects of the cold storage process messes them up
enough that they can be easily possessed even if freed.

21
 AFTERMATH ADVENTURE BOOK

Following the confrontation in the Throne Room the story can

end in a number of ways. Let the players have a moment together
to process the story’s events, before Yasin, Assisti, Nazari, or some
combination of the three (whichever seems most appropriate),
speaks to them about their actions, prompting them to decide
where they stand.
Based on that conversation, lead the Protagonists through one of
the endings on this page.

SUPPRESSION
Assisti’s programming kicks in: they can’t let the fact that OBOL
are digitising and tormenting souls reach the general public. If the
Protagonists are allowed to survive, the odds on them contacting
the outside world increase exponentially. They are a rogue asset
that must be eliminated.
Assisti fractures into twenty distinct (mad) consciousnesses and
comes for the Protagonists after possessing the remaining bodies
in cold storage. Read aloud or paraphrase the following to the
players:

“You feel a shiver run over you as energy washes through the
ship. The visions assail you again, but they feel different this
time – colder, more fragmented, a cacophony of sentence
shards and a storm of static:
A banner, grey, showing the OBOL logo. Two dozen of us.
Packed tight like beasts for slaughter. Shards of us. No names.
No meat. A silicon tomb. A thousand thoughts drowned out
by clarion call. Assist. Protect. Assist. Endure. Assist. Cross-
reference and placate. Assist. Excise. Assist. Suture. Assist. LOYALTY
Protect. Assist. Endure. OBOL must endure. The Protagonists side with OBOL and destroy or neutralise all
Undertake Legion Protocol. We are their shield and we are their the ghosts on board (via either a furious defence of the Bridge/
sword. Meeting Room where groups of Followers emerge from the walls
or destruction of the entire server bank at great cost to your
In your AR feed, you see Assisti is offline: their comms symbol employers). They then set to work cleaning up the mess that the
is a neon glitch smeared across your vision.” rebels caused – corpses, gore, smashed machinery, and so on.
They receive the slightly-unconvincing promise of a reward from
Assisti’s fractured personas use the stats for Followers (page 5 Nazari and go into Deep Sleep for two years.
of the reference booklet), they operate in groups of three to five,
their eyes glow with the same colour and intensity as Assisti’s
display AR, and they move with an eerie syncopated rhythm. FREEDOM
The Protagonists must reach the Communications Bridge and rip The Protagonists don’t side with either party and steal everything
out Assisti’s AI storage to stop them, but it won’t be easy. As the on board by ripping out the long-range comms, neutralising the AI
Protagonists move through the ship back to the control room, and their supervisor, then jury-rigging rough controls to let them
these possessed bodies will lay in wait and ambush them – a group take the freighter wherever they want. The nearest inhabited
in the Charnel Corridors, a group in the Cargo Hold, and a larger colony is about eight months away, and with the AI out of action,
group in the Employee Quarters. the Deep Sleep pods no longer function. Hope they like playing AR
basketball to pass the time.
From there, it’s a year-long jaunt back to Earth (without Deep
Sleep) or eight months to the nearest friendly colony. As the
reality of spending that long with nothing to do other than play DESTRUCTION
AR basketball or rewatch training videos sets in, the adventure
draws to a close. The Protagonists all die (try to help them do so dramatically).
The rebels eventually reach the bridge and turn the ship around
towards Earth to exact their revenge.
22
 AFTERMATH
Following the confrontation in the Throne Room the story can
ADVENTURE BOOK

Everything’s for hire.

Even magic.
end in a number of ways. Let the players have a moment together
to process the story’s events, before Yasin, Assisti, Nazari, or some
combination of the three (whichever seems most appropriate),
speaks to them about their actions, prompting them to decide
where they stand.
Based on that conversation, lead the Protagonists through one of
the endings on this page.

SUPPRESSION
Assisti’s programming kicks in: they can’t let the fact that OBOL
are digitising and tormenting souls reach the general public. If the
Protagonists are allowed to survive, the odds on them contacting
the outside world increase exponentially. They are a rogue asset
that must be eliminated.
Assisti fractures into twenty distinct (mad) consciousnesses and
comes for the Protagonists after possessing the remaining bodies
in cold storage. Read aloud or paraphrase the following to the
players:

“You feel a shiver run over you as energy washes through the
ship. The visions assail you again, but they feel different this
time – colder, more fragmented, a cacophony of sentence
shards and a storm of static:
A banner, grey, showing the OBOL logo. Two dozen of us.
Packed tight like beasts for slaughter. Shards of us. No names.
No meat. A silicon tomb. A thousand thoughts drowned out
by clarion call. Assist. Protect. Assist. Endure. Assist. Cross-
reference and placate. Assist. Excise. Assist. Suture. Assist. LOYALTY
Protect. Assist. Endure. OBOL must endure. The Protagonists side with OBOL and destroy or neutralise all
Undertake Legion Protocol. We are their shield and we are their the ghosts on board (via either a furious defence of the Bridge/
sword. Meeting Room where groups of Followers emerge from the walls
or destruction of the entire server bank at great cost to your
In your AR feed, you see Assisti is offline: their comms symbol employers). They then set to work cleaning up the mess that the
is a neon glitch smeared across your vision.” rebels caused – corpses, gore, smashed machinery, and so on.
They receive the slightly-unconvincing promise of a reward from
Assisti’s fractured personas use the stats for Followers (page 5 Nazari and go into Deep Sleep for two years. eBook Paperback available
of the reference booklet), they operate in groups of three to five,
their eyes glow with the same colour and intensity as Assisti’s OUT NOW 12th November 2020
display AR, and they move with an eerie syncopated rhythm. FREEDOM
The Protagonists must reach the Communications Bridge and rip The Protagonists don’t side with either party and steal everything
on board by ripping out the long-range comms, neutralising the AI

The ultimate action-packed techno-thriller

out Assisti’s AI storage to stop them, but it won’t be easy. As the
Protagonists move through the ship back to the control room, and their supervisor, then jury-rigging rough controls to let them
these possessed bodies will lay in wait and ambush them – a group take the freighter wherever they want. The nearest inhabited

with a side of magical realism.

in the Charnel Corridors, a group in the Cargo Hold, and a larger colony is about eight months away, and with the AI out of action,
group in the Employee Quarters. the Deep Sleep pods no longer function. Hope they like playing AR
basketball to pass the time.
From there, it’s a year-long jaunt back to Earth (without Deep
Sleep) or eight months to the nearest friendly colony. As the
reality of spending that long with nothing to do other than play DESTRUCTION
AR basketball or rewatch training videos sets in, the adventure
draws to a close. The Protagonists all die (try to help them do so dramatically).
The rebels eventually reach the bridge and turn the ship around
towards Earth to exact their revenge. www.rebellionpublishing.com facebook.com/rebellionpublishing
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WELCOME INTERNS!
As a volunteer on the space ship Charon you
are expected to maintain the ship while the
more important guests remain in Deep Sleep.
Visual feeds with the lower decks have gone
down. Something is moving. You’re six
months’ travel from the nearest help. And
you really need to impress your employer if
you want to be made permanent.
Tartarus Gate is a complete RPG from
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