Captain's

Logs from
the Sandbox
Report 002:
The Broken Omnicrys
This report filed by
Joshua Kubli
Cover Art
Ashe Rhyder
Cover Art
Matt Jackson
Contents
One (1) Beta Hydrae star system map
One (1) Freighter starship map
Five (5) personnel readouts
One (1) crew member advisory table
(randomized)
Three (3) item readouts
 Mission Briefing
1. Bridge. Helm controls are on the port side, while the sensors and
weapons station is to starboard.
2. Navigation. Extensive star charts help the navigator lay out a course
for the ship. FTL travel overrides are located here, too.
3. Mess. Food prep; doubles as a meeting and recreation room.
3. Crew Bunks. Six double bunks for the captain, first mate, and two
pilots, two engineers, a navigator, and a cargo handler.
4. Airlock. Stores four space suits for various species.
5. Cargo Hold. Dozens of cargo crates, stacked in this room and mag-
netically bolted to floor and walls. Additional cargo modules attach to
the outer hull around this section as well.
Captain's Log. The First Museum of Antiqui-
ties on Velusia states that a criminal stole an Omnicrys
sealed, secure displays. An Omnicrys is a data storage
crystal that the Forerunners used to store psionic and
spiritual information in. The criminal demonstrated
remarkable psionic powers; armed with the Omnicrys,
he may be almost unstoppable.
As the only combat-ready ship and crew in the vicinity,
the Galactic Confederation is offering a massive bounty
for the criminal's capture and the returns of the artifact.
Mission Notes: The Forerunners died in a civil
war; the peaceful, benevolent Forerunners created
Omnicryses that glowed lambent blue, while the violent,
evil Forerunners created Omnicryses that glowed deep,
blood red. The Omnicrys from the museum is highly
unusual, made of two broken Omnicryses, a red one
and a blue one, fused together. Four researchers suf-
fered permanent neurological damage studying the bro-
ken Omnicrys, after finding that this strange, hybrid crys-
tal contained far more power even than a normal
Omnicrys.
The criminal fled on a freighter, the Valterion. The Galac-
tic Confederation registers the owner as the Sirius Mer-
chants Guild, a known cover organization for the
Denebian Cartel.
The Order of the Nova Templars report that the criminal
is a former member. He stole the Valterion, murdered its
crew, and set course for Beta Hydrae.
 System Datafile (001)
1. Janferi.A barren world close to the twin suns, Janferi Beta Hydrae System. The Beta Hydrae system is
is a sun-scorched rock of little value to anyone but the New located beyond the nebula known as the Sargon Maelstrom.
Reformed Chuch of Skorma, who consider eclipses of Jan- It's a lawless system, on the borders of the Galactic Confed-
feri with Beta Hydrae B to be most fortuitous. eration and the Unclaimed Regions, where only criminals
■ Atmosphere: None and renegades thrive. Beta Hydrae is a binary system. Beta
■ Gravity: 0.31 Gs. Hydrae A is a mid-sized yellow star. Beta Hydrae B is a
■ Surface Temperature: 575° Kelvin (301.85° Cel- small, hot, blue-white star, still in its relative infancy.
sius), with variance of up to 200° depending on
orbital position.
■ Chemical Composition: Silicon 85%, iron 15%,
trace elements less than 1%.
■ Surface Water: None.
■ Native Lifeforms: None.
■ Settlements: None.
■ Hazards: Extreme heat from the twin suns, espe-
cially proximity to Beta Hydrae B.
2. Karmsworld.This warm, hospitable world is a favorite
hangout for pirates and smugglers of all kinds.
■ Atmospheric Composition: Nitrogen 71%, Oxy-
gen 18%, carbon dioxide 5%, trace gases 7%.
■ Atmospheric Pressure: 1.03 atmospheres.
■ Gravity: 1.1 Gs.
■ Surface Temperature: 291.5° Kelvin (18.33° Cel-
sius).
■ Chemical Composition: The
■ Surface Water: 62% surface water.
■ Native Lifeforms: Higher plants, transplanted
species such as lamprey-bats.
■ Settlements: Aka Noros, capital city and primary
starport.
■ Hazards: Criminals, high windstorms at northern
and southern latitudes.
 System Datafile (002)
3. Aldriss. A dry, barren world with a trace atmosphere,
6.
“by the triple moons of Aldriss!” is a common spacer curse.
■ Atmosphere: None.
■ Gravity: 0 Gs.
■ Surface Temperature: 120° Kelvin (-153° Celsius).
■ Chemical Composition: Iron 91%, silicon 4%,
trace elements 5%.
■ Surface Water: None.
■ Native Lifeforms: None.
■ Settlements: The.
■ Hazards: Aldriss and its three moons were once one
world, shattered by a meteor impact. Their pow-
erful magnetism cause severe sensor issues.
7.
3. Asteroid Belt.
■ Settlements: Space station base for the Brother-
hood, a group of renegade Nova Templars.
■ Hazards: The asteroid belt is a hazard itself; the
careening rocks require expert piloting to
dodge.
5. Phal Dentho.This chilly rockball is unimpressive,
but its orbital space station provides fuel and repairs to
ships coming to and from Karmsworld.
■ Atmosphere: None.
■ Gravity: 0.63 Gs.
■ Surface Temperature: 40° Kelvin (-233° Celsius).
■ Chemical Composition: Silicon 65%, iron 18%,
radioactives 8%, trace elements 9%.
■ Surface Water: Abundant water ice.
■ Native Lifeforms: None.
■ Settlements: Gunther-Viandi orbital spaceport.
■ Hazards: None.
Loza Lorsis.An unremarkable gas giant.
■ Atmospheric Composition: Hydrogen 88%,
helium 10%, trace gases 2%.
■ Atmospheric Pressure: 22.1 Gs.
■ Gravity: 0 Gs.
■ Surface Temperature: Unknown.
■ Chemical Composition: Unknown.
■ Surface Water: None.
■ Native Lifeforms: None.
■ Settlements: None.
■ Hazards: Gathering point for a small fleet of
refugees from Alpha Xandros.
Theedo.This green-tinted gas giant is home to a hardy
form of silicon-based bacterial lifeform.
■ Atmospheric Composition: Hydrogen 92%,
helium 7%, trace elements 1%.
■ Atmospheric Pressure: Varies with dept.
■ Gravity: 26 Gs.
■ Surface Temperature: Unknown.
■ Chemical Composition: Unknown.
■ Surface Water: None.
■ Native Lifeforms: Silicon-based colonies of primitive,
single-celled organisms resembling bacteria.
■ Settlements: None.
■ Hazards: Ships entering the outer cloud layers
report that the strange silicate colonies eat
through glass and ceramics in ships' outer
hulls. At least two Denebian Cartel ships have
been lost in this way. The bacteria might have
envolved on one of Theedo's eight moons and
drifted there, in a sort of small-scale pansper-
mia.
 System Datafile (003)
8. Batchaqq.Gas giant with pockets of valuable,
untapped zh'hara vapor, useful for manufacturing comput-
ers and AI cores, deep under the outer cloud layers.
■ Atmospheric Composition: Hydrogen 78%,
helium 18%, zh'hara vapor 3%, trace gases
1%.
■ Atmospheric Pressure: Varies with depth.
■ Gravity: 38 Gs.
■ Surface Temperature: Unknown.
■ Chemical Composition: Unknown.
■ Surface Water: None.
■ Native Lifeforms: None.
■ Settlements: None; several corporations are lobby-
ing the Galactic Confederation government for
rights to build a gas mining colony.
■ Hazards: Stuff
9. Shelion.
■ Atmospheric Composition: Hydrogen 91%,
helium 8%, trace gases 1%.
■ Atmospheric Pressure: Varies with depth.
■ Gravity: 21 Gs.
■ Surface Temperature: Unknown.
■ Chemical Composition: Unknown.
■ Surface Water: None.
■ Native Lifeforms: None (known).
■ Settlements: None.
■ Hazards: Strange life signs that some spacers
attribute to the legendary space kraken.
Crew Member Advisories
Space Travel Hazards
Free-floating cluster of exotic matter. Ships drop out of FTL-
01-04
space in close proximity to this cluster.
Ship is hit by gravity mines left behind from the Succession
05-21
Wars.
Space kraken! These creatures were thought to belong only
22-30
to legend, but now one wants to eat your ship!
Refugees from Alpha Xandros. Their star went supernova, …
31-90
and you look like you've got more supplies than you need.
The ghost ship, the Flying Andromedan, sighted. Spacer
91-00 legend says that every ship that makes sensor contact
explodes from random malfunctions within just a few days ...
Planetary Hazards
01-36
Local milita. They help keep the peace around the starport
on Karmsworld, and they don't like the cut of your jib.
Pushy alien merchant trying to sell the crew reticulated
37-50 nevethrae (a small, fuzzy pet) from Opulon IV. The weird,
obnoxious trader won't take no for an answer.
Street performers show off “magic powers” (psionics) for
51-67 credits. Crew members get pickpocketed if they fails a Notice
Things roll.
The crew gets caught in a blaster fight between members of the
68-89
Denebian Cartel and their rivals, the Algol Syndicate.
It's time for the annual Bounty Jubilee. Anyone that isn't wearing
special garments blessed by the New Reformed Holy Church of
90-00 Skorma get attacked by Church enforcers. The good news is
that the special garments will only cost the crew 80% of their
current credits.

Thorny Antiquarian
The museum of Valusia insists on sending along
one of its representatives to recover the
Omnicrys, and he's very difficult.
The Twists
If the crew makes any side trips or pit stops, The
Antiquarian attempts to pay off members of the
crew to ignore orders and continue the search.
The Antiquarian distrusts the crew, and begins
looking through their personal things to back up
his claims of their uselessness.
The Antiquarian fancies himself a bit of a
mechanic. He's not. He fiddles with the ship's
hyperdrive settings, trying to make it go faster, but
causes disaster for the engines.
upstart Brotherhood
A handful of renegade Templars, led by a
disgraced, de-powered former Templar, liveby
their own lax rules on a dark, decrepit space
station in the asteroid belt.
The Twists
The upstart Brotherhood is lead by an old
Templar, who lost most of his psi powers in a
mission gone horribly wrong. He's paranoid about
being caught, and might immediately attack.
Using the utmost power of the Broken Omnicrys,
the Mad Templar telekinetically sends the space
station hurtling through the asteroid belt to a
grisly death, crushed between space rocks.
The apprentices don't have batteries to beuild
their vibroswords, so one ruthless apprentice
steals power supplies from the crew. If attacked,
his fellow apprentices will rush to his defense.
Mission Complications
The Missing Cargo
An Angry Smuggler's ship, the Valterion, was
stolen. He borrowed another ship and is
obsessed with getting his own back.
The Twists
The Angry Smuggler broadcasts a distress call,
thinking to lure the Valterion. He opens with
blaster fire at the first ship that appears.
The Angry Smuggler hires a handful of bounty
hunters to waylay the crew when he finds they
want his ship as well.
The hidden cargo is a set of plans for the
Galactic Confederation's greatest battle cruiser,
the Undefeatable. With these plans a single
Carnifexian fighter could destroy the cruiser.
The Moneychanger
A robot crimelord on Karmsworld has
connections that could make it much easier to
find the Mad Templar, if the crew can gain its
trust.
The Twists
Not just everyone gets to meet the
Moneychanger. The crew has to fight their way
past a dozen combat robots to get to see the
mechanical monstrosity.
The Moneychanger will help, if the crew does it
a favor. Years ago, a Shattered Templar
offended it; now it wants the Templar's head.
Shockingly, the Moneychanger betrays the
crew after they help it. As they leave, a hidden
gravitic tube deposits them in an arena, where
they must fight alien creatures.
Bad Neighborhood
The crew runs into all kinds of local trouble in Aka
Noros, capitol of Karmsworld. Teeming with
criminals, the colony is great for getting lost in.
The Twists
A local bar owner has problems with a thicket of
plant aliens. He offers free drinks for life to anyone
that can get them (and their choking pollen) to go.
Mutant lamprey-bats teem up from the sewers.
Warped by carelessly leaked spatial flux catalyst
fluid, the creatures are a danger to everybody.
A well-armed local dealer sells a new, even more
highly addictive type of brainchips, and he refuses
to pay his percentage to any of the local criminal
cartels. They want their cut.
Darkest Dreams
Just as they board the Valterion and close in on
the Mad Templar, he uses the Broken Omnicrys to
peer into the minds of the crew, creating horrific
psionic illusions.
The Twists
The Mad Templar shows the crew the most
horrible incidents from each of their past. The
weak-minded falter as they see their failures and
tragedies from long ago.
Worse, the Mad Templar reaches deeper into the
crew's psyches, summoning forth images of the
crew's darkest fears. The crew must fight each
other's worst nightmares.
When the crew overcomes the harrowing gauntlet
of psionic images, they hear a self-destruct
countdown. They have only minutes to get back to
their ship, before the Valterion explodes!

The Museum
Representative
Description: A distinguished
archaeologist past his prime,
the Museum Representative is
a highly educated man, full of
knowledge of the galaxy's his-
tory. On the downside, he's ar-
rogant, opinionated, and nosy.
He's sent with the crew as a
condition to their collecting
any reward for retrieving the
Broken Omnicrys.
Stats:
Body (Average)
Speed (Weak)
Mind (Good)
Will (Average)
Skills: The Museum Repre-
sentative holds vast knowl-
edge about galactic history,
but his social skills are se-
verely lacking. He has no
combat training. He got lucky
once repairing minor damage
to a broken hyperdrive, and
now thinks he's an expert star-
ship mechanic.
Personnel Datafiles
The Shattered
Templar
Description: Long ago, a
powerful Zerkolian Templar
lost most of his psionic pow-
ers, and all of his faith in the
justness of his order. Now, he
teaches a handful of young
apprentices from an aban-
doned space station in the
Beta Hydrae asteroid belt.
Stats:
Body (Average)
Speed (Average)
Mind (Excellent)
Will (Good)
Skills: The Shattered Tem-
plar lost his psionic powers
long ago, but he's still a for-
midable fighter. He carries a
vibrosword, and is an expert
fencer. He's okay at most
other forms of combat, and is
extremely well-traveled.
The Angry
Smuggler
Description: The Valterion
once belonged to this Za-
odonite captain. The Angry
Smuggler borrowed another
ship, the Meson Gyrhawk,
from a former first mate, so
he could hunt down and re-
claim the Valterion and its
precious, mysterious cargo.
Stats:
Body (Weak)
Speed (Good)
Mind (Average)
Will (Good)
Skills: The Zaodonite smug-
gler knows his way around
the criminal underworld, and
has an excellent grasp of
starship operations. He's a
fair tactician, and a pretty
good shot with a blaster pis-
tol.
The
Moneychanger
Description: Once just an or-
dinary walking banking robot,
the Moneychanger is a feared
and respected crimelord on
Karmsworld. Surrounded by a
cloud of hangers-on, syco-
phants, and combat robots,
the Moneychanger is as
grotesque as it is powerful.
Stats:
Body (Weak)
Speed (Average)
Mind (Good)
Will (Good)
Skills: The Moneychanger
specializes in loans and gam-
bling. He has parts from a
dozen other robots fused
onto his chassis, along with
blasters, sensors, and hull
plating armor. Its reputation is
fearsome, and it's always sur-
rounded by several salved
and refitted combat 'bots.
The Mad
Templar
Description: Once a loyal
and humble scholar of the Or-
der of Nova Templars, the
Mad Templar delved too deep
into forbidden knowledge of
the Forerunners, finding cos-
mic secrets that warped his
mind.
Stats:
Body (Good)
Speed (Good)
Mind (Excellent)
Will (Good)
Skills: The Mad Templar
knows quite a bit about the
Forerunners and the Omnicry-
ses, and his psionic skills are
well-developed. He can read
minds and move objects
telekinetically, among other
things. His skills with a vibros-
word are only mediocre.

The Valterion
Description: An old Ashrazel Industries O-16
freighter refitted for smuggling, the Valterion is
renowned in the Denebian Syndicate for its han-
dling and wild exploits.
Stats:
Maneuver (Excellent)
STL Drive (Good)
FTL Drive (Average)
Structure (Average)
Notes: The Valterion is equipped with two over-
charged, retractable Gren-Shalls TE-21 laser tur-
rets. Numerous smuggling compartments are
shielded against inspection scans as well. The ves-
sel's only downfall are the cramped crew quarters.
item Datafiles
Vibroswords
Description: The traditional weapon of the Order
of Nova Templars, vibroswords have a long blade
that oscillates at incredible speed, separating tar-
gets at a molecular level.
Stats:
Damage (Excellent)
Range (Melee)
Shots (1d6+3 minutes of use)
Structure (Good)
Notes: A weapon dating back to the Succession
Wars at the end of the old Interstellar Union, the Vi-
brosword is a light but powerful weapon that can
cut through metal, ceramics, even diamond-hard
alloys like they were butter. Their primary issue is
their expensive batteries; until a fusion or zero-
point generator can be miniaturized adequately,
most vibroswords are only good for a few minutes
of use.
The Broken Omnicrys
Description: A priceless treasure of the Forerun-
ners, the Broken Omnicrys is a unique artifact
forged from two Omnicryses.
Stats:
Psionic Power Boost (Outstanding)
Structure (Good)
Notes: Blue Omnicryses typically teach
compassionate psionic powers such as healing
and empathy, while red Omnicryses hold
aggressive powers such as the generation fo
telekinetic blasts, and the creation of illusions. The
dual, fragmented nature of the Broken Omnicrys
invests it with great power, but at great risk to the
users's sanity. The Nova Templars and the Galactic
Confederation believe it's imperative that the
Broken Omnicrys is locked away forever.