You are about to begin the first encounter section of CRASH ON VOLTURNUS. Study the entire section and be sure you are familiar with the movement scale, the special rules, and the general plot of the scenario before beginning play.

Use the starship map on the outside of the module cover for this encounter section. Lay it flat on the table where all may see it, and place one counter in a passenger-class cabin for each character. Player characters begin the adventure in these cabins. They have no equipment with them except their tool kits. (Note that weapons of any sort are not considered tool kits. All weapons will be locked in the weapons locker on the bridge.)

GAMMA SUBSECTION 1: SPECIAL RULES SCALE MOVEMENT

In this encounter section, movement is calculated in squares. Each square equals 2 meters. The following table shows the maximum movement per turn for each race.

GAMMA 1.1:
MAXIMUM MOVEMENTS IN MAP SQUARES

Race	Walking or Dodging	Running
Human Dralasite Vrusk Yazirian	5 squares 3 squares 8 squares 5 squares	15 squares 10 squares 18 squares 15 squares

MOVEMENT MODIFIERS

When moving through a door, a character must stop in the square directly in front of the door and open it. A character opening a normal door may move only 1/2 his normal distance, while a character opening a pressure or security door must spend two full turns opening that door. The character ends his movement directly in front of the pressure or security door, waits two turns, and moves through the following turn.

Under no circumstances may a character move diagonally through any door, whether it is opened or closed. Similarly, a character may open a door only when in the square directly in front of the door.

Normal doors, once opened, will remain open until closed manually. Both pressure and security doors, however, close automatically unless held open. Normal and security doors slide open, but pressure doors swing into the pressure chamber.

Only characters with level 1 or higher Technician skills can open security doors.

SIGHTING

A character can see into any square within his straight line-of sight, as long as nothing obstructs his view. A character cannot see around corners, through walls, or into any square normally impossible to see into.

This means characters should not know the location of pirates until they can see those pirates according to sighting rules. You should not place any pirate counters on the map until the characters enter an area from which they can clearly see the pirates.

TIME

Use normal six-second combat turns in this section.

COMBAT AND MOVEMENT

Normally, only one counter may occupy a single square. Two counters may occupy the same square only if one counter represents an unconscious individual, or if the two counters are involved in melee.

A character may move through a square occupied by another character if the occupying character allows him to pass without engaging him in combat, or if the occupying character is unconscious. If a conscious character wishes, he may stop any counter moving through a square he occupies and engage it in combat.

Any character within a square containing a chair, computer, engine, or similar object may use it for cover during ranged combat. The map key distinguishes between hard and soft cover objects.

If the space pirates kill or knock all the characters unconscious, the characters must begin the module again. Their characters are considered dead, and the characters must roll or choose new characters.

(If any characters are killed on Volturnus, you may supply replacement characters on the planet by having the party meet another group of survivors from the starliner. The players who lost their characters should run these new characters.)

INTERROGATION

During the course of the adventure, the characters may try to question a captured space pirate. The pirate will cooperate only if he feels the characters will injure him if he does not. Even then, he will reveal only two things; the weapons locker has been destroyed and the bridge is guarded. Any pirate would rather die than reveal anything more about himself or his home.

COMPUTER

If a character with computer skills attempts to use the computer to gain information, he will find it is engaged in an emergency program. The computer will display only the following information:

EMERGENCY ALERT! EMERGENCY ALERT! SECURITY VIOLATION ON BRIDGE. REPEAT: INTRUDERS ON BRIDGE!

EMERGENCY ALERT! EMERGENCY ALERT! EXPLOSION REPORTED IN WEAPONS LOCKER. REPEAT: WEAPONS LOCKER DESTROYED.

GAMMA SUBSECTION 2: PLAYERS' DESCRIPTION

Read the boxed statement below to your players.

The government of Truane's Star has hired you to carry out a preliminary exploration of a newly discovered planet. You are to journey by starliner to Volturnus and map as much of the planet as possible. The government is especially interested in contacting and studying any intelligent races living on the planet. If you meet an intelligent race, you are to make friendly contact and learn as much about them as possible.
The first expedition to Volturnus disappeared without trace as soon as it entered the Zebulon system. If possible, you are to locate and rescue any survivors of this mission.
As you boarded the starliner that would take you to Volturnus, the steward gave you an interior plan of the starship and urged you to study it carefully. He also searched your luggage and placed all weapons and power packs in the weapons locker. His assistant placed your other heavy gear, such as the military skein-quits given to you by the government of Truane's Star, in the cargo hold. The only items you were allowed to take to your tiny cabins were your non-weapon tool kits.

During your journey, you have toured the area of the ship not shown on the map. It contains recreation areas, the observation dome, the galley, the first class living quarters, and fuel storage. There is nothing else of interest in that area.

In the event you must evacuate ship, you have been instructed to proceed immediately to the escape bay, where two of the Serena Dawn's lifeboats are stored. Each lifeboat holds up to eight persons. If it becomes necessary to use the lifeboats, you have been instructed not to open the hatch until all persons using the lifeboat are assembled and ready to enter it. This is because the lifeboats automatically launch one minute after the hatch is opened. They then seek the nearest inhabitable planet and land in the first safe spot.

FOR THE REFEREE ONLY: If the characters insist on searching any area of the ship not on the map, go directly to random encounter number 5.

GAMMA SUBSECTION 3: RANDOM ENCOUNTERS

After the pirates capture the ship, there is a 10% chance each turn the characters will meet one or more of them. Roll 1d10 each turn. If you roll a ''1," consult the random encounter table below. This table is used sequentially, so encounter 1 takes place first, encounter 2 takes place second, and so on.

These encounters take place as soon as logically possible, ideally in the same turn rolled. Do not, however, have pirates suddenly appear where there is no chance they could appear. Pirates should appear as the characters round a corner, open a door, or move into any area not previously visible. If the characters are stationary, the pirates should appear at the closest possible entrance.

GAMMA 3.1: RANDOM ENCOUNTERS TABLE

1.) Pirate A (RW -- , M 30, PS 3, IM 4, RS 35, STA 50.)

Pirate A will attack the closest character, attempting to hold this character hostage. If he succeeds in grabbing any character, he will draw a vibroknife and threaten to kill this character, attempting to persuade the rest of the party to accompany him to a passenger- class cabin. If the rest of the party cooperates, Pirate A will lock them all in the cabin and leave. In this event, go immediately to random encounter 5.

2.) Pirate B (RW -- , M 30, PS 3, IM 6, RS 55, STA 55.)

Pirate B will attack the closest character with his nightstick. As soon as he has taken more than 20 points damage, he will attempt to flee toward the bridge.

3.) Pirate C (RW 35, M28, PS2, IM6, RS 55, STA 35.)

Pirate C will attack the entire party with his automatic pistol. If he hits, divide the damage according to the rules for firing a burst. If he runs out of ammunition, he will attack with his gun butt until dead or unconscious. He has enough ammunition to fire two bursts.

4.) Pirate D (RW 25, M 38, PS 4, IM 5, RS 45, STA 75.)
Pirate E (RW 35, M 18, PS 2, IM 7, RS 70, STA 35.)

Pirate D will throw his tangier grenade immediately. Any party members within its range must make a Reaction Speed check. If the check is successful, they must move 2 squares away from the center of the tangier grenade explosion. If they fail the check, they are affected normally by the tangier grenade. After throwing the tangier grenade, pirate D will attack the closest party member with his blackjack.

Pirate E has set his laser pistol energy dial at 2 SEU and will not change it. He thus has a maximum of 10 shots. If he uses all h is shots, he will melee using the pistol butt as a weapon.

5.) Ship explosions.

The ship begins to vibrate badly. The characters hear three loud explosions, and the ship lurches. Each character must make a Reaction Speed check or fall to the ground. The second turn, pieces of the ship begin to fly throughout the entire area. There is a 5% chance each character will be struck by one of these pieces, taking 1 d10 damage.

If the characters run toward the lifeboats, they will meet no pirates anywhere; all other beings have abandoned ship. There will be one lifeboat left when they reach the escape bay.

GAMMA SUBSECTION 4: PLANNED ENCOUNTERS

Review the following information carefully. You must read the boxed entries aloud to your characters as you begin each encounter, but it is not necessary to provide them with the information below the boxed entry unless they have done something to acquire this information.

1.) BEGINNING

Read the following description to any character:

You hear the sound of scuffIing outside your cabin. After the scuffling continues for two seconds, a man cries "Help!" A loud thump follows the man's cry.

The space pirates are hijacking the Serena Dawn. One of them is attacking a crewman in the corridor. When the characters investigate, the pirate will attack with his fists. If the pirate is reduced to 10 or fewer Stamina points, he will surrender (most pirates will continue to fight until reduced to 0 Stamina points}.

Pirate F (RW -- , M 23, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 45.)

2.) FIGHT IN THE CORRIDORS

As the characters enter the corridor between the two rows of passenger-class quarters, read the following description to them:

You see three space pirates in the corridor between the two rows of passenger-class cabins. The first pirate, carrying a bullwhip, stands at the top end of the corridor. The second pirate, carrying a club, stands at the junction of the corridor leading from the airlock and the corridor running between the passenger-class cabins. The third pirate, wearing shock gloves and a power belt, is at the bottom end of the corridor.

Each pirate will attack the first character he sees, and continue attacking until the character or himself has been reduced to 0 Stamina points.

Pirate G (RW 30, M 30, PS 3, IM 3, RS 30, STA 45.)

Pirate H(RW -- , M23, PS2, IM6, RS55, STA25.)

Pirate I (RW -- , M 25, PS 3, IM 4, RS 40, STA 50.)

Space pirate I wears a fully charged belt pack to power the shock gloves.

3.) SEARCHING THE CARGO BAY

If the player-characters wish, they may search the cargo bay for useful equipment. Read the following description as they enter either cargo bay:

You have entered a cargo bay. There are many boxes piled in every square, with just enough room for you to walk between them. You can also see several rows of cargo cabinets. Apparently, these cabinets are unlocked.

As the characters search each square, roll on the cargo search table below. All items are stored in clearly marked cargo boxes. It requires one turn to open a cargo box, and another turn to remove the contents.

Each character may search 1 square per turn. A square may be searched only once; if more than one character searches a square, the second will find the same thing as the first.

If the characters have searched all squares in both cargo bays without finding their skeinsuits, they will find the skeinsuits in the last square.

GAMMA 4.1: CARGO SEARCH TABLE

% Roll	Type of Cargo Found	Weight/ Item
01-05 06-10 11 -15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31 -35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 66-70 71-75 76-80 81-85 86-90 91-95 96-00	Character's military skeinsuits* 10 Laser rifle clips* 12 Packets of dehydrated food*** 1 Computoy Ship doctor's spare medkit* Crates of hand axes Costume jewelry 1 Holographic fireworks projector Chronocom Boxes of ball bearings Chocolate anchovies in aspic Steambath perfume 1 Prize Vrusk statue Characters' non-weapon equipment Bolts of silk Galacticana Encyclopedia Yazirian punching bags Large machine gears Vrusk body wax High fashion Human dresses	1.5 Kg -- 1 Kg 10Kg 4 Kg 1 Kg -- 5 Kg -- -- -- 1 Kg 10 Kg -- 5 Kg 2 Kg 2 Kg 10 Kg -- --
Can be found only once. **Each packet will feed the entire group for one day.

There is one pirate guard in each cargo bay. Pirate J guards the left bay, and pirate K guards the bay on the right. Each will stand near the center of his cargo bay. Both pirates will fight until they are knocked unconscious or they win the fight.

Pirate J (RW 18, M 18, PS 2, IM 4, RS 35, STA 35.)

Pirate J will fire his gyrojet pistol until out of ammunition, then use the pistol butt in melee. Assume he begins the combat with a fully loaded clip.

Pirate K (RW -- , M 30, PS 3, IM 6, RS 55, STA 50.)

Pirate K will attack with his axe until he wins or is knocked unconscious.

4.) GUNFIRE IN THE AIRLOCK CHAMBER

As the characters enter the airlock chamber closest to the escape bay, they will see two space pirates.

There are two pirates in this airlock chamber. One holds a grenade, and the other holds a sonic stunner. They move to attack you immediately.

The pirates will attack as soon as they see the characters.

Pirate L (RW 30, M 30, PS 3, IM 6, RS 55, STA 55.)

Pirate L will throw his fragmentation grenade immediately. Each character within the blast radius should make a Reaction Speed check; any characters who make their checks take only 1/2 damage from the grenade. One or both pirates may be caught in the blast radius of the grenade. (Each character should roll damage from the grenade separately.)

Pirate M (RW 25, M 25, PS 2, IM 5, RS 45, STA 40.)

Pirate M will attack with his sonic stunner. Any character hit by the sonic stunner should make a Stamina check. If the check is successful, he is not stunned.

5.) RETREAT FROM THE BRIDGE

If the characters enter the bridge area, read the following description to them:

As you open the door, you immediately realize a struggle has taken place. Chairs, instruments, and even unconscious officers lie strewn about the floor. You see four armed space pirates on the bridge. The first holds an automatic pistol, the second holds a needler pistol, the third holds an electrostunner, and the last holds a laser pistol.

If the characters have entered the bridge section with the weapons locker, read the following statement:

From your vantage point, you can see the weapons locker has been destroyed, along with everything it once contained.

The pirates have orders to guard the bridge at all costs. They will open fire as soon as they see the characters. The guards will not follow the characters if they leave the bridge area.

Pirate N (RW 23, M 18, PS 3, IM 4, RS 35, STA 55.)

Pirate N will fire two shots each turn until he has used the 10 shots remaining in his clip. He will then use the pistol butt in melee.

Pirate O (RW 25, M 10, PS 2, IM 5, RS 50, STA 40.)

Pirate O will fire two shots each turn until he uses his 10 shot clip. He will then use the pistol butt in melee.

Pirate P(RW 40, M 15, PS 2, IM 6 ,RS 60, STA 30.)

Pirate P will place the electrostunner on the damage setting and fire until he has used his 20 SEU clip. He will then use the pistol butt in melee.

Captain Slag (RW 69, M 47, PS 4, IM 7, RS 67, STA 73.)

Choose any pirate counter to represent Captain Slag. He will fire one 5 SEU shot from his laser pistol each turn until he exhausts its 20 SEU clip. He will then use the pistol butt in melee.

6.) ESCAPE!

As the characters enter the escape bay, read the following description to them:

The escape bay is empty except for one lifeboat. Looking into it, you notice an item inside labeled "Survival Pack." This seems to be locked in some sort of cabinet.
Suddenly, the Serena Dawn lurches, and you hear three loud explosions coming from the bridge. The ship trembles for several seconds, then lurches again and you hear another explosion. You hear various squeaks and groans as the ship twists and buckles beneath your feet.

The lifeboat is large enough for eight characters. As soon as the first character opens the entry hatch, a computerized voice will say, "One minute to launch. Please fasten your seat belts.'' Ten game turns later, the lifeboat will blast out of the escape bay. All characters should be in the lifeboat by this time. (Two characters may enter the lifeboat every turn.) If the characters do not wish to enter the lifeboat immediately, tell them the ship is about to explode. They will see pieces of metal flying about inside the escape bay, and they will notice a crack forming in one of the walls of the escape bay.

After the characters secure themselves inside the lifeboat, it will automatically launch itself. As the lifeboat starts to move, four space pirates armed with automatic rifles will enter the escape bay and shoot at the lifeboat. There is no chance this fire will injure any characters, but they will feel the lifeboat shudder and lurch as the bullets strike it.

The lifeboat will then seek the nearest inhabitable planet and find a safe place to land.

GAMMA SUBSECTION 5: EXPERIENCE POINTS

It is now time to award experience points. Players who took an active part in the adventure receive 2 experience points. Players who were extremely helpful or active in this section receive 3 experience points. Players who managed to escape, but who did not show any initiative, receive only 1 experience point.

Remember, characters may use these experience points immediately only if acquiring a skill they have been practicing or utilizing during the adventure. They may also use these experience points to improve their Ability scores (this may help them a great deal later in the module).