Breakout!
severe penalties await those who ignore  Maintenance hatches (Very Difficult)
©2016 Michael Brown
The PCs are asked to help restore order
and security aboard a stricken prison
transport.
Overview
While outsystem, the heroes receive a
distress signal from a disabled prison
transport. A full-scale breakout is
underway aboard the ship and the guards
have their hands full. As the PCs are the
first people they’ve gotten hold of, they
invoke astrotime law to request aid. The
heroes are asked to board the ship, help
restore order, and help secure the
prisoners, some of whom are now armed
and roaming the ship looking for an
escape.
Breakout! is designed for tabletop RPG
science fiction games using a 2D6
mechanic — including the Original 2D6
Science Fiction Game — starring
characters of varied career backgrounds
assumed to be traveling and working
together beforehand. No special skills are
required for the adventure, but combat
and negotiating skills are useful. It’s
assumed the PCs have a starship.
To determine the number of enemies
during the indicated portions of the
adventure, a formula is used with n
representing the number of PCs.
Example: n+3 is the number of PCs plus
three.
Players’ Information
As the heroes’ ship breaks out of FTL
and begins maneuvering toward the
system’s gas giant to refuel, they
receive a frantic distress call from a
ship identifying itself as a prison
transport vessel. A cascade failure in
the electrical systems resulted in the
main computer going offline long
enough for the security systems to fail.
The 500 inmates naturally took full
advantage of the situation. A riot is
underway and the surviving guards are
fighting a desperate holding action until
help can arrive.
As the PCs vessel is the first to
acknowledge the distress call, the
guard on the other end invokes
astrotime law to obtain “any and all aid
and assistance from the responding
vessel.” In this instance, the guards ask
the heroes to board the ship by any
method they can and help restore order
and secure the prisoners
Referee’s Information
PCs in a haggling mood should
remember that astrotime law is clear
about responding to distress signals;
Sallerin Philippe (order #11411160)
them. Plus, the increasingly-frantic guard
reminds them he doesn’t have that kind of
authority and rewards can be dealt with
later.
A rough schematic of the ship appears
below. The barge is solidly built, unable to
enter atmosphere, but dependent on
auxiliary vehicles (not shown). The bridge
(also not shown) sits atop one of the
cellblocks, which are arranged with the
guard stations in the center. The entire
ship is heavily compartmentalized, not
only for structural integrity, but also
prisoner control. Security features include
blast-resistant portals, biometric
scanners, full video coverage, and
anesthetic gas release; almost all of the
security measures are still offline. The
computer itself is working only
intermittently.
The cellblocks hold 125 prisoners each.
The guards, through Herculean effort and
creativity, have trapped the majority of
them in the blocks, although two guard
stations were compromised and have
gone silent. The blast portals have
prevented a mass exodus for the airlocks,
lifepods, and auxiliary vehicles, but a few
roving inmate parties have escaped and
are roaming the lower decks.
The heroes have several ways of gaining
access to the vessel (demolition skills
may be required for some):
 The main intake area via the main
docking port (but see below)
 Emergency airlocks (Difficult)
 Auxiliary craft (Very Difficult)
 Cargo bay (see below)
 The lifepods (Very Difficult, and a
pod would have to be released
before the hatch is available.)
Whatever method the team uses to enter
the ship, they may meet a party of
convicts. One such group is on their way
to the prisoner intake center. Another is in
the cargo bay, and a third is headed for
one of the auxiliary vehicles. For any
other area the team enters, there is a 10+
chance of running into a wandering gang,
checked every 30 minutes. The
purposeful gangs number n; the
wandering gangs number n+4. All are
armed with makeshift clubs and knives,
with 10% packing stolen pistols.
The team can claim victory if they
 Secure all the gangs through sheer
brute force
 Sneak past them using air ducts and
maintenance tubes and relieve the
besieged guards in the barracks and
on the bridge
 Get the computer working and
restore the security measures
(computer skills, Formidable).
Success allows them to access the
anesthetic gas and lock down large
portions of the ship. From the bridge,
access to the computer is (Routine).
Complications
 One of the roving gangs takes the
Engine Room after a brief fight. They
take the drives offline and start
making demands. Unfortunately, this
is when an asteroid moves on a
collision course — certain unless the
drives can be restored in time.
 Another ship arrives in response to
the prison ship’s distress call; but this
one (which bears no visible
markings) just sits out there, silent
and unmoving. What is it waiting for?
Is it there to help or harm?
1. Cellblocks
2. Fuel tanks
3. Main airlock/prisoner intake
area
4. Cargo bay and stores
5. Guard barracks and habitat
6. Engine room
(Not shown: Bridge, emergency
airlocks, lifepod access,
auxiliary vehicles)