Credits

writing
Alex Guillotte

art, design and layout

Alex Guillotte

editing
Keith Mageau

Setting Concept
Alex Guillotte, Ian Christiansen

Additional artwork
tsuneomp/Shutterstock.com, Roman3dArt/Shutterstock.com

© Copyright 2022 • alex Guillotte


Locations
This vessel began life as a survey ship about thirty years
ago under the rather lackluster name CCS 38115-A. It has
since been refitted with the new Tesla-Mars – Asimov III
Vacuum Engines that can accelerate a ship to nearly .011c at
maximum thrust, allowing the Orpheus to make the trip to the
Tartarus system in just under 500 days.
Apart from the new drive pods, computer core, and
hibernation chambers, very little was added to the freighter
before being recommissioned as the CCS Orpheus in late
2180. It features standard gravity plating, two survey pods,
a WF-445 fusion reactor, and a Janus Industries life support
system that can sustain a crew of twelve for up to four years.
Since the Orpheus isn’t intended to haul any significant
freight on this trip, the crew complement has been reduced
to six, with rations that could last up to six years if necessary.
Of course, the company doesn’t expect the mission to take
nearly that long, but since the shelf life is fifty years and
storage space is not an issue, there was no reason not to
include the extra supplies.
Required crew positions include the captain, pilot, science
officer, two mechanics, and a medical officer. Of course,
several crew members have redundant skills. For example,
the captain and at least one of the mechanics have some
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piloting experience, while at least two other members of the
crew have emergency medical training. Due to the length
of this particular journey, hibernation chambers have been
installed into each berth, allowing crew members to sleep
for most of the journey. This serves to avoid any adverse
psychological side effects and reduce resource expenditure.
General Descriptions. Since the Orpheus is a mining
company ship, it’s built to endure harsh conditions and
abuse. The ship’s interior features steel floor grating,
corridors lined with padded gray wall segments, access
panels, and shielded lighting grills lining the walls and
ceilings, which provide broken uneven lighting. While there
are a few advanced touch screens on the bridge, in the
med bay, and on the hibernation chambers, most of the
ship’s controls are solid-state mechanical switches and
Xenon-hardened screens designed to handle power surges
and decades of careless use.
The Orpheus smells of recycled air that’s somehow
unable to entirely remove the background odors of grease,
coolant, and hard work. The ambient sounds of the ship’s
systems (particularly the air scrubber, oxygenator, reactor
core, and engines) are a constant thrum in the background
that the crew no longer even notices, except when it stops.
Every surface shows signs of wear, including dents, scuff
marks, and unidentifiable stains. The only areas that are
conspicuously clean are the updated med bay, the hibernation
chambers, and a few systems in the engine room that were
required for the experimental engines.
Most of the ship’s internal labels, indicators, and signage
are in both English and Chinese, though many are barely
legible from years of accumulated grime. The Ceres Colony
and Tesla-Mars logos are prominent on many surfaces since
they were responsible for building most of the systems on
the Orpheus.
Ducts – The Orpheus has numerous small tunnels or
“ducts” that run the length of the ship. These allow the crew
to access the various conduits, piping, wiring, and related
systems. This means that very few critical systems require a
hard dry dock to repair.
The ducts themselves are roughly 1.2 meters square, with
steel grating on the floor and ceiling. Dim emergency lights
are spaced throughout, and at the end of each are stored
two repair kits: one electrical and one mechanical. Every
three meters has a sealable air-tight iris valve that allows
sections of the ship to be sealed off in the event of a rapid
depressurization, fire, coolant leak, or some other hazard
needing to be contained. These valves can be controlled at
the valve itself or from the bridge.
Specific Location Descriptions. In addition to the above
descriptions, each section has distinct features and details.
The Keeper should also allow players to add their own
personal touches, particularly to their private bunks, including
things like vintage posters, family photos, off-duty clothing,
trinkets, and other decor.
Deck A: Bridge – The bridge is low-ceilinged and somewhat
cramped, though it manages not to feel claustrophobic due to
the large viewports around the front of the ship. There are six
stations, each dedicated to a different ship system including:
helm, navigation, communications, engineering, life support,
and sensors. Each station has a standard flight seat (with
a five-point harness), primary controls, and three monitors.
Most secondary and auxiliary controls are on the overhead
consoles above each station.
The aft portion of the bridge rises by several steps to a
central door leading to the ship’s galley and the rest of the
ship’s interior. Doors on the left and right side of the rear wall
access the port and starboard airlocks. Each airlock contains
a single emergency Class-D vacc suit, a basic mechanical
repair kit, and two Breach Kits (Type-H and Type-S).
Secrets
It is against AEC law for a civilian ship to carry weapons, but
the company has added a secret weapons locker in the floor at
the rear of the bridge. It contains two Glock 99 pistols and one
Glock 34-B shotgun, with two reloads for each. For security
reasons, only the captain is aware of this cache.
Deck A: Galley – Just behind the bridge is the ship’s galley;
it includes a small kitchen, crew lounge, and small dining
table with six chairs. The cabinets are stocked with standard
long-haul rations fresh from the Ceres Colony Supply Depot.
Each meal is stored in a 9” x 6” x 3” bio-plastic container and
contains an appetizer, main course, and dessert. These are
reconstituted in one of the three units in the kitchen, which
takes about twenty seconds, making the hot items hot and
the cold items cold based on the package’s barcode. Despite
their appearance, the meals are surprisingly good, as is the
coffee, which is always fresh and dispensed from a vending
machine that operates around the clock.
Along the port wall are the vacc suit lockers (Type-D), and on
the far end of the port wall is the forward access ladder leading
up or down to the hibernation bay, rec room, and main sensors.
Deck A: Central Corridor – This is the only way to get from
the front of the ship to the aft decks. It’s lined with access panels
to the various wiring and piping conduits and four hatches to
the port and starboard access ducts (see Ducts on p.14).
The corridor is divided into eight segments with emergency
pressure doors in between that can be closed locally or remotely
from the bridge. These close automatically in the event of a rapid
depressurization or fire but can be overridden locally.
Deck A: Main Engine Room – Beyond the central corridor
is the aft access ladder and engine monitors. A door in the
aft wall opens into the reactor room. The reactor itself passes
through the floor into the lower engine room on Deck-B, and
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the main power conduit exits the rear of the room to feed the
various drive engines. The remainder of the engine room has
EPS conduits, coolant tanks, and the various controls and
monitors required to operate and maintain the reactor core.
Deck B: Hibernation Bay – The ship’s hibernation bay was
once used to house normal crew berths but has since been
retrofitted with state-of-the-art hibernation chambers. These
chambers double as normal bunks while not in hibernation.
There is a little storage for clothes, gear, and a few personal
items. To the rear of the hibernation bay is the locker room,
showers, and toilet.
Deck B: Med Bay – One of the more significant interior
retrofits was the ship’s med bay. Considering the length of the
journey, the company felt that a modern medical facility was an
absolute necessity. It even has the ability to perform some lab
work, allowing it to double as a bio lab.
Deck B: Lower Engine Room – The layout is very similar to
the main engine room. It is capable of providing emergency
power in the event that the main engine room is damaged or
otherwise inaccessible.
Deck C: Sensors – This room houses the ship’s computer
core and provides direct access to the main sensor array. There
are three workstations that can be configured individually to
suit specific mission parameters, and while they have all the
standard sensor software, their primary purpose is elemental
planetary surveying.
Deck C: Rec Room – Almost everything on a spaceship is
utilitarian, and humans learned early on that recreation and
downtime was absolutely critical for crew safety and morale.
The rec room on the Orpheus is simple, featuring a round game
table, game cabinet, and an entertainment console to watch
movies or play video games. The game table has a surface
screen that can simulate more than a hundred different game
boards, and the cabinet contains the physical game pieces,
playing cards, poker chips, and so on.
Many of the crew eat their dinners down here, taking turns
bringing down the meal trays and recycling the remains.
Fortunately, those who built the Orpheus included a suite of
recycling bays for organic and non-organic waste.
Secrets
Alcohol is prohibited by the company, but with an implied
wink and a nudge. This is to say that it’s frowned upon to get
caught with alcohol on the ship. The worst-kept secret in the
solar system is that almost every ship has a secret bar, and the
Orpheus is no exception. Next to the recyclers is a wall panel
that opens to reveal several shelves with liquor bottles and
glasses. There are 25 bottles of whisky, 10 bottles of vodka, 10
bottles of rum, a wide variety of mixers, and an ice dispenser.
Deck C: Survey Pod Bay – The pod bay is one large airlock
and is by far one of the ship’s largest open areas. It holds two
standard survey pods that can operate independently for up to
six hours before needing to be refueled aboard the Orpheus.
They each have a pair of extendible, multi-function arms that can
perform a wide variety of operations, including sample gathering,
outer hull inspection, taking localized sensor readings, and even
executing minor repairs.
The bay doors can be opened from a control panel on either
side or remotely from inside each pod. The bridge can override
either control in the case of unauthorized use. Additionally,
an access ramp can be lowered to allow for the loading of
equipment and supplies and provides an additional access
point for the crew.
Deck C: Ship Stores – Like the pod bay, this section is
essentially one large airlock. It’s currently packed with various
supplies and the ship’s Tesla-Ceres V utility truck. The supplies
include food stores, extra coolant, spare parts, medical supplies,
and so on. There is one open section reserved for ore samples
that the crew is supposed to be bringing back for analysis once
the mining claim has been established.
The storage containers are secured to dozens of steel shelves
with multiple access ladders throughout. An armature suspended
from the ceiling moves along a track and can be manipulated
with a remote e-pad to store or retrieve any storage container,
which are all coded within the cargo manifest. Containers can
be locked inaccessible by the captain if necessary.
A bay door in the aft wall can be opened from a control
panel on either side or remotely from inside the utility truck. The
bridge can override either control in the case of unauthorized
use. An access ramp allows the utility truck to enter and exit
the ship, in addition to providing a secondary loading point for
supplies and equipment.

CCS Orpheus Data

Origin Ceres Colony Shipyards
Registration Commercial - Ceres Colony
Dimensions Length 27.2 m (155 ft.)
Width 15.3 m (50 ft.)
Height 9.6 m (31.5 ft.)
Mass 1850 Metric Tons
Cargo Capacity 50 Metric Tons
Range 52 AU s
Power Plant WF-445 – Fusion Reactor
Vacuum engines Asimov III (Tesla-Mars)
Reaction engines Leviathan VII (Tesla-Mars)
Sensors Perseus V (Survey Package)
Gravity System Byron-Higgs - Gen IV
Life Support NASA - Gen XII
Computer Core Xiu A.I. - Support System
Crew 6 Standard
Captain/Comms
Pilot/Mechanic
Engineer/Comms
Mechanic/Pilot
Science Officer/eMT
Medical Officer/Science
Passengers 0
Hibernation System Yanam Industries - Type XI
Support Vehicles 3
Ceres Opal Survey Pod (2)
Tesla-Ceres V Utility Truck (1)

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 equipment
Vacc Suits
Modern vacc suits vary widely in their style and design based on
their use and include Class A, B, C, and D. The Class D-Suits are
light environmental suits that protect against hard vacuum, cold,
and harsh environmental conditions but lack significant radiation
shielding. This makes them useful for spaceships, stations, and
the surface of planets with a reasonable magnetosphere. Their
primary advantages include their light weight, an impressive
range of movement, and the ability for a person to don the suit in
about 30 seconds. This makes them ideal for emergency vacc
suits aboard most spaceships and stations.
The Class C-Suit is bulkier and provides moderate radiation
shielding. These are used for situations with only Moderate
radiation, such as a typical spacewalk or on the surface of a
celestial body without an atmosphere like the Moon.
The Class B-Suit is specifically designed for high-pressure
environments making them the bulkiest of the vacc suits.
They can be configured for different operational parameters,
including deep cold oceans like the Mariana Trench on Earth
or hot crushing environs like the surface of Venus. These are
more like suits of armor and include powered servos to assist
in movement, which can also help in higher gravity conditions.
The Class A-Suit is versatile, trying to balance movement,
pressure, and radiation shielding. It does everything that
the C, D, and E suits can do, but not quite as well. This suit
also features many operation-specific modules that can be
attached to it, allowing the B-Suit to be configured to suit the
mission’s specific requirements. These are the most common
EVA suits in use and are standard issue on most ships. While
the specific design varies based on their maker and age, they
are all based on well-established technology and so operate
more or less the same.
Breach Kits
A breach includes any sort of hole in a surface that’s intended
to keep one set of environmental conditions separated from
another. In most cases, this means keeping a human-friendly
environment from leaking out into the vacuum of space. A
Breach Kit is designed to repair such holes, and there are
several types for different situations. These include Type-H
(hull), Type-S (vacc suit), and Type-Z (hazardous materials).
Each is color-coded to avoid confusion in an emergency,
though depending on the situation, one type can occasionally
be used for a different kind of breach.
The typical Breach Kit is a hard resin case that contains a
dispenser that looks like a small pistol with a nine-inch long by
two-inch diameter cylinder on top, plus two replacement cylinders.
Each cylinder contains the liquid sealant that releases when
the trigger is squeezed. The liquid sprays forward to become a
rapidly expanding foam that fills the breach, hardening in a matter
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of seconds. These repairs aren’t pretty, but in an emergency, they
absolutely save lives. The foam is dyed a specific color to match
the color code of the Breach Kit.
The Type-H Kit is purple and is used to repair minor hull
breaches in spaceships. The typical Type-H kit can seal hull
breaches up to eight inches in diameter, with each cylinder
capable of sealing up to 80 inches of a hull. This could be ten
8-inch breaches or forty 2-inch breaches. Sealing larger breaches
is possible but requires adding other support material. For
example, the hole could be covered with a metal plate and sealed
around the edges with the foam. Plates like these are often found
in engine room stores or vacc suit lockers, but a clever person
could re-purpose an access panel door or a galley tray in a pinch.
The Type-S Kit is blue and is used to repair vacc suits
and smaller EVA pods. Apart from the color of the case and
the cylinders, this kit looks much like the Type-H Kit. While
performing EVA, most seasoned professionals make sure that
they have at least one Type-S Breach dispenser with them.
This foam is stickier and sprays out a small cone of filaments
that adhere to and expand on the vacc suit’s surface or the pod
breach. Most breaches can be sealed in about three to five
seconds, though pod breaches often require more coverage.
Typically, the Type-S Breach Kit can seal up to 100 inches of
vacc suit or 50 inches of pod wall. It even works on pod windows
and helmet visors, though it is opaque and so can hinder vision.
These patches are more flexible than the Type-H foam and
can be applied to a wider area, as long as there is something to
support it; even clothing beneath is enough, though it permanently
bonds the clothing to the suit. Better than dying, though.
The Type-Z Breach Kit is red and is very much like the
Type-H kit, except that it seals against hazardous materials
and conditions. These can include strong corrosives, extreme
heat, ionizing radiation, and extreme pressure. The drawback
is that they can only cover half the area of the Type-H seal,
meaning each cylinder only covers 40 inches of a hull.
These have been used to repair plasma conduits, reactor
coolant tanks, and ship hulls when the exterior conditions are
particularly nasty.
Type III Gemini Survey Pod
This Type III EVA pod is a standard multi-purpose platform
for performing external ship inspections, repairs, and limited
rescue operations. In a vacuum, the pod has an operational
time of four hours and a top speed of nearly 940,000 kph (after
four hours of constant acceleration). This pod is capable of
limited atmospheric flight and is capable of achieving a top
speed of 65 kph (40.3 mph) in a 15 psi atmosphere.
The pod is equipped with two utility arms that can perform
any number of mission-specific activities, including repairs,
sample recovery, and emergency crew recovery. They can
also be equipped with specialized tools, such as a mechanical
repair package, a sample bore, an emergency medical unit, a
special breach repair kit, and various cutting implements.

Tesla-Ceres V Utility Truck

This utility truck was commissioned specially for the Weyland
Mining Company and is primarily used as a crew and equipment
transport. It has an operational time of five hours, though it
can be equipped with a backup battery that can double it. It
seats four in front, with the rear bed capable of carrying two
additional crew or equipment.
The utility truck is capable of speeds of 70 kph on smooth
terrain and around 45 over rough terrain. Like all mining
company equipment, the utility truck is built for hard work
and careless abuse. Its yellow paint is worn but still visible,
and its locater beacon is detectable within 10 km, assuming a
reasonable line of sight.
The utility truck’s bed currently carries the five claim
beacons and the boring equipment necessary to retrieve ore
samples up to a depth of 60 meters.

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 The CCS Orpheus is a working ship
that has been designed and built to
handle decades of careless abuse.
She may not be pretty, but to her
crew, she,s more than just a home.
She represents a life of freedom
in the trackless void of space.

These deck plans are easily adaptable to almost any game mechanics
and setting. Although the ship was intended to be a local, interplanetary
craft, it would be easy enough to add some sort of FTL or Jump Drive to
make her capable of interstellar travel.