COPYRIGHT

This work is based on the Carta system (found at

https://peachgardengames.itch.io/carta-srd), from Cat McDonald and Peach
Garden Games, and licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Unported license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

The characters, setting, narrative, and additional mechanics of It’s in the

Vents! are the work of Travis Brightfield.

You can find more of their work at biggayuniverse.com and

biggayuniverse.itch.io.

Cover Photo by Bit Cloud on Unsplash.

Purring cat by Artness.

This is v1.0 of this game.

It’s in the Vents! is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this
license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
╚ ╩ ╝
A distress signal. A foreign planet. An unexpected attack.

Your captain’s suit was breached.

You tried to impose a quarantine, but the team wouldn’t listen.

Now they’re all dead.

You’re not sure what they brought onto the ship, but whatever it is…

It’s In The Vents!

╔ ╦ ╗
 INTRODUCTION
You are the sole surviving crew member of The Solus. The rest of your team
has perished – hunted down by some kind of alien predator they’d unknowingly
carried onto the ship. With the last of the crew now gone, the alien has
turned its attention to finding you.

You have an escape pod prepped and ready to launch. There’s just one thing
you need to collect before you go: the damned cat.

MATERIALS
To play, you’ll need:

╬ 1 standard deck of 54 cards, red & black jokers included

╬ 1 token, coin, or other character marker
╬ 1 counter or scrap of paper
╬ A flat surface for laying out your card grid

AIM
Holmes (the cat) isn’t good for much (see: the ship’s rodent infestation),
but he’s a survivor like you and you’ll be damned if you leave him behind as
alien food.

Find the cat. Make it back to the escape pod. Don’t get caught.

SET-UP
1. Set aside the red joker (escape pod) & black joker (Holmes).
2. Count out 22 face-down cards from the deck. Shuffle in the black joker.
3. Place the red joker face-up in your play area. Set your character token
on it. This is where you’ll start.
4. Deal out the cards (face-down) to form a 4x6 grid, with the red joker
in one corner.
5. Start a counter at 8 – this represents the alien’s distance from you.
 PLAYING THE GAME
Each card represents a room on the ship. You can move between adjacent rooms
(never diagonally), but it will always create noise – and that brings the
alien closer to your location.

When your distance meter reaches 0, the alien has found you. You might be
able to scare it off, if only briefly, by using your plasma torch. The
problem? You don’t have any fuel for it. Maybe you’ll find some on the ship.
Otherwise: your life, and the game, ends when the alien finds you.

Whenever you move between rooms, subtract -1 distance. When you move into an
unexplored room, flip the card over and do the following based on the card:

Diamonds (♦) – You find a control panel in the room that activates a system
elsewhere on the ship, distracting the alien from your position.
Odd (Ace,3,5,7,9) – The system is nearby, gain +1 distance.
Even (2,4,6,8,10) – The system is more remote, gain +2 distance.

Hearts (♥) – You slip into a hiding spot and wait for the alien to pick up
another trail before continuing. Gain +2 distance.

Spades (♠) – This connecting module is unstable. You can fix it with your
plasma torch if you have any fuel. Otherwise, the ship is going to lock it
off and jettison it.
If you spend 1 fuel – The corridor stabilizes. It remains on the board.
If you do not – The corridor is jettisoned. Remove it from the board
and immediately move onto an adjacent card (you still lose -1 distance
for movement). You won’t be able to come back this way.

Clubs (♣) – You create a loud, unfortunate noise. The alien draws nearer.
Lose -1 distance.

Court Cards (J/Q/K, any suit) – You find a fuel cell! Unfortunately, it’s
being used to power the room.
If you remove it – Take the card, adding +1 fuel to your inventory. The
room is permanently locked down. Immediately move onto an adjacent card
(you still lose -1 distance for movement). You won’t be able to come
back this way.
If you do not – The room remains open, and you can continue on. Perhaps
you’ll pick up the fuel cell on the way back…
 FINDING HOLMES
When you encounter the black joker, you’ve found Holmes! He greets you
indifferently, as he always does. He has no idea what you’ve risked to find
him.

You scoop him into a carrier and turn around to make your way back to the
escape pod.

Be careful… the alien is still on the hunt.

BACKTRACKING
When backtracking to the escape pod (the red joker), you still lose -1
distance from the alien each time you move between cards.

Luckily, you’ve already stabilized any unstable corridors – or let them be

jettisoned – so face-up Spades (♠) no longer trigger any additional effect.

Similarly, you’ve learned the layout of the rooms and can avoid unexpected
noises aside from your movement. Face-up Clubs (♣) trigger no effect.

When moving between two already-overturned (non-Court) red cards, there is no

movement cost and no card benefit is conferred. Otherwise, when moving from a
black card to a red card you trigger the red card’s effect.

If you land on any Court Cards (J/Q/K, any suit) while backtracking, you may
pick up the fuel cell and lock down the room.

GETTING CAUGHT
When your distance meter reaches 0, the alien has found you! It descends from
the vents and readies to pounce. You have just a brief moment to respond.

If you have it, you can spend 1 fuel to scare the alien back into the vent
and make a run for it. If you do so, gain +2 distance.

Otherwise, the alien gets you – and probably poor Holmes too.

This is the end of the game.

 MAKING IT BACK
Did you find Holmes and make it back to the escape pod without becoming alien
food?

Congratulations! You’ve won the game.

Lock the door behind you, hit the ejector, and strap in.

You have a long and lonely flight ahead of you. You’re not sure that anyone
will pick up a distress signal this far out, but you’ve got to try.

You’ve made it this far. And Holmes has even warmed up to you, his savior.

That banging on the outside of the pod?

Oh, I’m sure that’s nothing…