COSMIC CASTLE - Star Marauders Dungeon
Mysteriously, The Cosmic Castle Appeared
A dungeon for use with Star Marauders: Peril and Plunder on the Stellar Sea
One month ago, to the day, Princess Lovely Heartless was abducted by a phantom during a diplomatic pop music performance for the fishy freaks of Dagon V. They were blamed in the short term but thorough investigation revealed no possible wrongdoing on the part of the Dagonites.
Three days ago, the Cosmic Castle appeared in Empire Space. However, not even the Heartless Elite could approach. All who approached were disintegrated by an unseen force. Yesterday, a message came to Emperor Heartless from an unknown source. It read: "Your daughter is being held in the COSMIC CASTLE. I offer a simple exchange... Your Empire for her safety.
- Petrigon Centipax"
But Emperor Heartless does not negotiate with terrorists. Instead, he has put out an order to all his knights and heroes - Go forth and eliminate Petrigon Centipax! The Cosmic Castle crumbles before my might!
Rittergrau Thegn, your Lord, has a different idea. He is obsessed with the Princess, and believes this might be an opportunity to make her his bride. In the name of Lord Thegn, free Lovely Heartless from within the Cosmic Castle, and dont let anyone get in your way.
Wandering Encounters 2-in-6
- Dagonite Thrall 1d6, serving
- Spidertank, swiveling
- Child of Petrigon 1d3, writhing
- Mesh Gear Fox, scurrying
- Arrowhead Converter, seeking
- Psychic Message, taunting
T(ower)
An array tower designed for functionality. Brutalist concrete.
Joey Bananas and his posse (4 in all) are here, hovering over the tower and dodging AA fire from the turrets. If they are not assisted, the ship goes down and crashes into the courtyard.
1
A satellite dish amplifies the psionic waves from Petrigon Centipax.
2
Two manned turrets on rails rest on the perimeter of the platform. Inside are 4 Dagonite Thralls, readying to deploy.
3
Empty platform. Inside are 3 Children of Petrigon devouring an imperial soldier.
4
Short walls on the platform perimeter. There are two Dagonite Thralls overlooking the southern side, wielding rayguns. Inside is a map of the Castle area on a monitor. It is unlabeled.
5
The base level of the tower. Connects to "C-2".
C(astle)
Exposed courtyard. The exterior of the Castle is made of big polymer bricks and the interior is lushly decorated.
Ser Spliff Spacer and his retinue are here (7 in all), entrenched in gunfire at the drawbridge. If they are not assisted they will all perish in the battle.
1
A direct entrance into the Cosmic Castle. There is a "drawbridge" with docking beacons that can be closed or opened at Petrigon Centipax's will.
A mess of barriers blocks the way thru. A Spidertank operated looms over the ten Dagonites guarding the entrance, ready to blast all comers.
This courtyard used to be a field of flowers. Now it is home to craters, pockmarked with bullets, blood and dozens of dead bodies from the previous attempts to storm the castle.
There are two tents in this area: One is an L-shaped abattoir/kitchen combo, with eleven humans hanging on hooks. Three yet live, squirming and moaning pain. If freed they have Stamina 2 and Skill 1 along with 2-4 wounds. Gradley, Scrad and Holdem.
There is a pit to the North of the L Tent, full of discarded man-parts. Further up yonder West is a square tent containing a small dining area.
Door East leads to "C-3". To the west is more courtyard ("C-2").
2
A pillbox gun emplacement facing toward an ornate door ("C-17") on the West side of the courtyard and South toward "C-1" is operated by a Dagonite Thrall (Protection 7). The pillbox has an open portal on the back. The door is locked securely and a key rests in "M-4".
Two tents stand beyond the emplacement, occupied by four infirm Dagonites being treated by a medic.
Further toward the North is the Tower, the walls before it littered with 1d6 landmines cloaked by active camouflage.
A hypersteel door lies beyond the walls on the Eastern side ("8").
3
A gallery with a statue of a flexing muscular man with tits and no head. Moody pieces of depressing gradients hang on the wall. His codpiece has been buffed by repeated touches. Exits to the West ("3"), East ("4") and North (""5"). Fine wood over reinforced hypersteel doors.
4
A window on the South wall with a view to the planet Heartless. Exit to the North ("7") and West ("3"). There are seats facing the view.
5
A room with a mandala carpet on the floor. In the centre is an eye. Above the pupil, on the ceiling, is a dome hanging upside down that contains a brain. A psionic wailer! Entering the room without a recognized biosignature causes the doors to lock and the wailer to begin screaming.
Beneath the pupil are vials of Psycho Snow and Feelgood (Make a Life Save at +3 Stamina for your next lethal hit sustained after dosing). They both look the same in their vials but the Snow comes out softer and the Feelgood is in chunks.
Exits North ("7"), South ("3") and West ("6"). The western door has a reinforced frame and says HOLDING.
6
A hologram of the Princess is here. She is bound in the back of the room and begs to be released from her binding. Upon approaching, a bomb will beep once before detonating (Lethality 6).
7
This wide room is marble. There is a sculpture here which depicts a large globe of Planet Heartless, enraptured by a Centipede.
Two exits facing South ("5", "4").
8
Cramped room with a red light on the ceiling.
Exists West ("2") and North ("9").
9
The Western wall in this chamber belies a wheeled crushing machine. Upon entering the room's Westmost third, the wall breaks down and the machine barrels forward until it crashes into the door to the East, making it inaccessible. The machine is two men tall and almost indestructible. It is on treads which can be disrupted by an explosive blast.
Two wooden doors North ("10", "11"), one utilitarian door South ("8") and one reinforced and bulky door to the East ("12").
10
Reading room. Contains a small library of physics and philosophy books, scientific journals and the like. They're in pristine condition.
11
A plain, small closet with a shelf of BioFeed nutritional pellets. A dead Dagonite hangs from a synthweave cord, clutching a crude idol of its Creator God, Dagon.
12
Four statues of Petrigon Centipax's ancestors are on each side of a carpet path. The fabric is a rich green. The statue on the Southern side, second from the Eastern exit can be turned to open the door into "14". It stands on a round plinth, whereas the others stand on square plinths.
Exits to the East ("9") and West ("13").
13
Pressure plate here seals the doors and opens a the North wall into space.
Door to South is smooth and part of the wall, with barely visible seams framing the portal ("14").
14
A room that is uncannily smooth on all surfaces. The western wall has a hole in the centre, hiding a Mesh Gear Fox.
A smooth door hidden in the wall North ("13") and a bulky blast door to the South ("15").
15
A mosaic of a brain on the South wall.
Curtain of beads to the West ("16") and a door like a computer chip to the East ("M-6").
16
An unlocked chest contains a Helmet of Psionic Protection (nullifies Wailer effects). It contains an Arrowhead Converter resting beneath the helmet, which will activate upon its removal.
17
An industrial elevator on a sloped surface descends at 60 degrees toward the Hall of Petrigon Centipax:
A grand chamber, one thousand paces long and 40 paces wide leads to a set of stairs. There is a purple carpet with golden trim. At the end, there is a massive throne occupied by Petrigon Centipax. In a cage nearby, hanging from the ceiling, resides Princess Lovely Heartless, scantily clad and shivering.
Petrigon Centipax is reclining in the throne, his many legs outstretched across the backs of six Dagonite Thralls. A dozen more rub his many feet with gusto. Should they slow or falter in their massage, who knows what would become of them!
He will applaud the marauders if they make it here and apologize for the trouble. He is eager to explain his motives: He comes from the future, where the Blackhole Centipedes are defeated by humanity at the end of time every cycle in a psionic battle before they use their collective psyches to tear a hole in spacetime and return to the beginning. He has defied the centipede's nature and developed free will, and strives for material power, and not to let Psionics develop any further.
M(asercannon)
A hi-tech zone.
Flush Jordan is here and his crew are all dead.
1
Disembarkment chamber. Spaces for vaccsuits and breathers to be stored.
Airlock to the East and a mechanized, automatic door to the West ("2").
2
Thin walkway over a deadly abyss. There is a Longsword hanging from the ceiling, and it drops when its path is crossed. In front of the Longsword, toward the South exit, is a motion detector. Upon activation, the detector opens up a hole on West wall of the walkway which releases an Arrowhead Converter.
Exits to on the North-East ("1") and South ("3").
3
A threeway crossroads, the Eastern wall is studded like Lego.
Exits North ("2"), West ("5") and South ("4").
4
A typewriter on a table in the southern side with a half-written security report detailing the previous attempt from the Empire to breach the Cosmic Castle. A crate sits nearby, empty but for a pouch of dried herb, papers and a lighter in a small tin box. On the Western wall, a large key specially designed key somewhat like a crank which must inserted into a designated lock and turned to open the door to the Hall of Petrigon Centipax ("C-17").
Flush Jordan is crying here. His crew have all been turned and wander the halls!
5
A nest of wires, electronic components, plastics and other scrap fills this room. Within are five Mesh Gear Foxes sleeping soundly.
Door North ("6") and East ("3").
6
Hallway of smashed screens. There is one intact, depicting Petrigon Centipax. Hidden behind the screen is a Psi-Wall Emitter.
Five exits. Clockwise ("7", "5", "9", "8" and "C-15").
7
A hoard of Chrome Coins sits in the back of the room. Close inspection reveals them to be fake. When a Fake Coin exits the room, it explodes (L3).
8
Six captive Dagonites tortured by a floating sphere with a gravitational pull. It drags the manacled Dagonites toward its center slowly and painfully stretching the agonized prisoners.
9
Room full of steam. Two columns occupy the space, the East one has a loose panel which hides an antidote to Centipedal Conversion (1d2+1 uses).
Two exits on the West side. The Northmost leads to "6" and the one below it leads to "10".
10
Hallway with a nearly invisible laser beam placed at the bend, running North-to-South. Lethality 6.
Three exits. East ("9"), South ("11") and West ("C-4").
11
A room with a divider. Three Children of Petrigon occupy the space.
Two exits. North ("10") and South ("12").
12
Raised platform in the room center teleports any who stand upon it to a random room. (Roll 1d3 for Tower, Castle or Masercannon sections and roll 1d6 for which key number the hapless victim appears in.)
Exits to the North ("11")and East ("13").
13
Pipes full of hot steam line the wall and ceiling.
Exits South ("14") and West ("12").
14
A room with a heavily secured door to the South ("15"). There is a keypad with a code known by the higher ranking Dagonite Thralls. If the code is input incorrectly, the door to the North ("13") locks and the room becomes a microwave, (L2+1 each minute).
15
Mass-Maser Cannon set to fire at Planet Heartless in 1d3 hours, as soon as it finishes charging up. Only the biosignature of Petrigon Centipax can stop it.
ENCOUNTERS & NPCs
DAGONITE THRALL 1
Stamina 5
(1-4) Trident, Lethality 3 or (5-6) Raygun, Lethality 5
Unarmoured, Protection 0
Fishmen in a psionic daze.
SPIDERTANK 3
Stamina 9
Gauss Cannon, Lethality 8
Hypersteel Plating, Protection 3
A tank on four synthmuscle legs ending in chicken feet. The muscle bleeds black oil and a Lethal hit on the legs will limit its mobility. The legs are unarmored.
CHILDREN OF PETRIGON 2
Stamina 8
Bite/Scratch, Lethality 4
Nanomachines, Regen 1
Heartless men transformed into humanoid centipedes by a partially exposed Arrowhead Converter embedded somewhere on their person. If it is destroyed, the subject will surely thank you as they melt down to nothing.
MESH GEAR FOX 1
Stamina 4
Swipe, Shock 1
Friendly creatures caused by haywire nanomachines designing new life.
ARROWHEAD CONVERTER 2
Stamina 2
Pierce, Lethality 5
A floating triangular slab that flies toward its target and transforms them into a Child of Petrigon on a failed Life Save. On a successful Life Save, the new stamina is how many tens of minutes someone will last until they transform.
SER SPLIFF SPACER 3
Stamina 9
Beam Lance, Lethality 6
Royal Armor, Protection 4
A snobbish and proud Heartless Knight.
HEARTLESS KNIGHT 1
Stamina 6
Longsword, Lethality 5
Heater Shield, Lethality 2/Protection 1
JOEY BANANAS 2
Stamina 10
Revolver with piercing rounds, Lethality 5 (Ignores Protection)
Grapoon, Lethality 4
Cloth Armor, Protection 1
Monkey uplift. An honest man.
ANIMAL UPLIFT
Stamina 5
Bonk Club, Lethality 4
Shock Javelin, S1-6
Simpleton uplifts that must be lead by the hand in order to do much.
FLUSH JORDAN 1
Stamina 10
SMG, Lethality 5
Spear, Lethality 3
Cloth Armor, Protection 1
Cocky star in adventure serials. Incredibly handsome.
PETRIGON CENTIPAX 3
Stamina 12
Energem Staff Laser, Lethality 7
Energem Staff Ambiance, Lethality 2+1 per minute nearby.
Wailing, Lethality 2 (Ignores Protection)
Psi-Wall, Protection 2
Telekinetic Wave, Lethality 1 (No combat check required)
Hard Chitin, Protection 3
Giant Centipede with a big, bulging brain exposed. He moves so fast that all attacks on him suffer a degree of disadvantage. His brain is protected by an invisible barrier, as he uses much of his psychic powers to protect it. Requires a Supernatural success in order to hit it directly.
PRINCESS LOVELY HEARTLESS 2
Stamina 10
The princess is pissed off and wants to fight.