Stuck Out in the Black

by Chris Angell
Your starship, the Star Ferret, has broken down… again. A power surge knocked out several vital systems, leaving
you stranded in interstellar space. You’ve got to find a way to get going again, before things get even worse.

1. Character creation 2. The Star Ferret

You have three stats:
Brains is for remembering information, making repairs, and
using technology
Brawn is for moving heavy objects, enacting violence, and
withstanding physical strain
Cool is for lying, convincing, and staying calm under pressure
Choose one stat to be 5, one to be 4, and one to be 2.
Choose your Background:
Pilot, Medic, Thief, Changeling, Diplomat, Mercenary, Psychic,
Merchant, or something else
Choose one Cool Thing you have:
Loyal Pet, Laser Sword, Sonic Wrench, Digital Mindlink,
Infravision, Jetpack, Venomous Spurs, or something else
Last, choose your name and some pronouns, and describe
your character to the group!
Your ship is all of the following except one. Cross one out as a
group: Ugly, Rickety, Cramped, Leaky, Stolen, Fuel-guzzling
Your ship is one of the following. Circle one as a group:
Artificially Intelligent, Stealthy, Alive, Labyrinthine, Speedy,
Armed
Fill in the Star Ferret ‘s layout below. Taking turns, each player
outlines a room in the ship, describes its purpose, and decides
what ship’s system can be accessed from there. The player on
their left describes a danger found in that room. Write this all
down inside the room. Go around until each player has added
two rooms to the ship.
Example systems: Autopilot, Oxygen, Shields,
Communications, Sensors, Reactor Coolant, Artificial Gravity,
Hyperdrive Engine, Refrigerators, Airlock, Waste Management,
Fire Sprinklers, Healing Vats
Example dangers: Leaky Pipes, Combustible Fumes, Live
Cargo, Slippery Floor, Quirky Robots, Explosive Munitions,
Exposed Wiring, Radiation, Narrow Catwalks, Shoddy Hull

3. Playing the game

Describe what you want to do to the Game Master. When you try to do something difficult or risky, roll a d6 against a relevant
stat. You may roll an additional d6 for each of the following, taking the best result: if your Background is relevant, if you use your
Cool Thing, and if another character is helping.
If the result is lower than your stat, you succeed. If you roll equal or above you stat, you fail and the situation gets worse. On a
failure, you might take a point of harm. Once your harm equals your Brawn, you are incapacitated and can’t act. (Maybe you can
be healed with some medical supplies and a Brains roll!)
If you roll doubles, something extra happens! If the matching dice are under your stat, you succeed with flying colors: describe
an additional positive effect of your actions, above and beyond your original intent. If the matching dice are equal to or over your
stat, the GM introduces a major complication, regardless of whether you succeed or not.
For the Game Master
Once the ship has been created, choose a scenario, either one of those below or one of your own creation. Then, decide which of
the ship’s systems are broken or dangerously malfunctioning due to the power surge (choose one more system than the number
of players). Those systems have to be repaired or otherwise dealt with before the Star Ferret can get out of here.
Scenario
1. The life support system is offline and the ship is losing oxygen
2. The hold contains precious medical supplies that have to stay refrigerated
3. Without antimatter containment, the reactor will melt down
4. An NPC crewmember or passenger needs urgent medical attention planetside
5. They’re bringing time-sensitive information to the rebel forces
6. The crime boss they swindled is hot on their tail

As the GM, listen to the choices the players make about their characters and their ship. Create situations that play off their
choices. Make their lives interesting, and provide opportunities for them to feel cool.
When the players want to do something easy or boring, it just happens. If they want to try something impossible, tell them so.
Only call for a roll when they have a chance of failure, and that failure would make their lives more interesting. On a success,
they get what they wanted. On a failure, inflict harm on somebody, escalate the scenario, or introduce a minor complication.
When a player rolls doubles above their stat, add a major complication. Use one of the complications below, or come up with
your own. One or two major complications are probably plenty for one game! If a player rolls doubles again, just escalate an
existing complication.
Complications
1. Pirates have detected the Star Ferret ’s location and are inbound
2. The void beast that caused the power surge is boring its way through the hull
3. The Star Ferret starts slipping toward a black hole
4. They left hyperspace in hostile territory and a cruiser arrives to deal with them
5. Poisonous gas starts billowing out of a burst duct
6. They discover a saboteur hired by a personal rival, stowed away on the Star Ferret