S

D P
VESSEL 3 1 4
AN C
T E
H

Written for Death in Space - Planetfall JAM - 2022

DEATH IN SPACE is © Stockholm Kartell and/or other authors.

VESSEL 314 is an independent production by Stackelberg and

is not affiliated with Stockholm Kartell. It is published under the
DEATH IN SPACE Third Party License.
 Background
During an ice mining operation in
an asteroid cloud an icebreaker
found a strange spaceship frozen
in ice. The ship got salvaged to
the large freighter that was
waiting for ice outside the
asteroids. When the ship melts
an ancient Artificial Intelligence
also thawed.
The AI spread to both humans
and the freighters algae dams.
For humans the AI was
detrimental. The algae, as a
simpler organism, was more
controllable and the AI begun
building biological structures in
the pools.
The AI spread to humans and Algae by
(1d4) 1. Nanoparticles 2. Filaments 3.
Magnetic dust 4. Robotic fir needles.
Setup
The characters are approached to The characters get the coordinates to
rescue the ice breaking operation since where the freighter last known location
the company owning the freighter and a promise of a reward. The
“Vessel 314” (1D6) company wants the freighter operation
back under their control and nothing to
1. suddenly lost all contact with be removed from it.
the freighter.
2. have had reports on thawed
space-pathogens on the
freighter.
Definitions
3. believe that the freighter has
been jacked by pirates. The Ship is the frozen strange
4. has an ongoing conflict spaceship found among the asteroids
with a labour union
The Ice-Breakers are three smaller
organisation that has
ships made for collecting ice with their
threatened to interfere
crane arms from the asteroids and
with production.
bringing it back to the Freighter.
5. employed a sibling to one of
the characters, a sibling
reported missing. The Freighter is the enormous space
m st fro hangar where ice is brought to be
w i t h a reque ing
been ha
iled em send melted, sorted and repacked before
e i g h t e r of th t y pe of
the fr s pecific one transport back from the asteroids.
6.
a
people
wit h es with
c e t h a t match i l w as
compete
n The ha
c h a r a cters.
of the code…
n s o m e s trange old
o
 Approaching the freighter
1-3
Detects an
ice-breaker
1 Inactive. Onboard are seven
dead crewmembers, all have
starved to death, even though
the algae pools are full of edible
seaweeds.
2 Inactive. On board are four
famine-stricken crewmembers
that refuse to eat algae. The
starving crew can in their
delirium incoherent tell a story of
the frozen devilship that killed
everybody else.
3 Patrolling. Onboard are a
crew of five that all have eaten of
the algae and become affected,
see table A.I.-infected animals/
humans for effect. They are
kognive impaired and demented.
(1D6) 4-6
Receiving a signal
from the freighter
Long lines of disturbing numbers
in rhythmic frequencies, spoken by
an synthetic voice.
The last surviving crew member .
alternately asks to be saved,
alternately asking them to turn
around.
A guttural voice that first has
great difficulty forming words but
. 6
then manages to ask them for help
due to an engine failure. Sparse of
details about what has happened to
the freighter.
The ice-mining
The Ice-breakers are small, cramp
ships of poor design, bad ventilation
and no personal space. The crew on
each of the three Icebreakers
supporting the freighter is twelve
4 members, divided into three shifts.
One shift working, one sleeping and
one relaxing/working out.
Each Shift have a Pilot, one
5 Navigator, one Crane arm operator
and one outside in EVA suit.
The Ice-breakers are usually
roaming the asteroids, trying to fill
their container with ice as fast as
possible. When the container is full
they bring it back to the Freighter,
gets an empty container and begin
the ICE-hut anew.

The voice is created by the AI by letting the algae push decaying gas
through a dead crew member's vocal cords controlled by algae threads.
Onboard Freighter 314
The Freighter 314 is a huge hangar
where the Ice-breakers leave their
containers packed with ice. The Ice is
then processed by the Freighter eight
people crew.
Most of the processing is done
automatically by the huge pools and
tanks into which the ice is brought.
There the ice are melted and run
through a filtration system to
separate different materials and
element. Ice is mostly water but
elements like hydrogen, nitrogen,
ammonia and so on are stored in
their own tanks. Filtrated materials
are then again frozen for transport.
The eight crew on the freighter are
the captain, the navigator, a security
officer, three technicians and two
mechanics.
Rooms (1D12)
The Vessel 314 is a interfutson of (1)
huge storage rooms with tanks, pools
and basins, (2) melting rooms, mixed with
(3) crew quarters, (4) small dining areas,
(5) gym, (6) growing baths for algae and
(7) fungus, (8) engine rooms, (9) security,
(10) bridging drive and (11) three ordinary
hangars and (12) one hangar with the
strange thawning ship.
Cousine
The standard food on this mining
operation isvitamin enriched algae, served
with protein dense fungus cubes. As the
operation is away from larger HUB:s for a
long period of time both of the main
components - Algae and Fungus - are
grown onboard the freighter and the
icebreakers

To reach its goals the A.I.
A I
want more computing power,
with equals more algae to
make larger biological
rtificial ntelligence constructs. It needs a larger
body of water to multiply the
algae. Preferably an ocean
The A.I. wants to control algae
where its algae could form
and use it to… (1D6
) continents. The A.I.:s short
1. Terraform atmospheres to the gas composition an Alien term goal is to get the engine
civilization needs. on the freighter repaired so it
can take itself to a HUB or
2. Manufacture membranes of an unknown plastic planet with water.
composition that binds sunlight and charges enormous
amounts of energy.
KILL IT
3. Build biological structures capable The A.I. is possible to
of sending signals to distance stars.
inactivate in most part if the
algae on the freighter and on
4. Halt all technological advancement that could lead to the the ice-breakers dies. To
development of unstoppable AI-singularities. delete the A.I. completely it's
also needed to destroy its
5. Discover dangerous new Meta-mathematics mecanic form, see table by
background.
6. Open gates to other Galaxies.
In the Pools the AI infected
Algae clumps together and
forms...
1. lumps big as footballs that slowly floats
up and drifts above the pools.
2. spiral patterns that in waves create
monotonous clicking sounds.
3. large algae branches that extend out of
the basins through the freighter at almost
completely straight 90-degree angles with
the goal of penetrating biological matter.
4. thin freckle-like rods topped by
feather-like plumes that extends out of
the baths.
5. circular patterns that form wells,
apparently deeper than what should be
possible in the basins. Dark fumes
emerge from them.
6. a living changing mass that constantly
shifts between the shapes above in
different terraces.
 Personality Communication Underlings
The Alien A.I. ain't human and have a The A.I.:s mean of communication are… On the Freighter the A.I. have control
strange personality by human measures. (1D4) over some creatures. (1D4)
1. It is a notorious liar and it dont believe 1. an disturbing synthetic voice over the 1. It is in control over the dead corpses of
(1D4)

that humans can see through the most
blatant lies it spins.
2. It can only express itself in
metaphors, parables and images.
3. It won't take a no for an answer
3.
and is keen on acting threateningly
against those who oppose it.
intercom system.
2. text messages that flicker past the
broken screens around the freighter.
By faul algae induced vapur that gives
the characters images in they mind's
eye.
the crew members who are “reanimated”
by threads of algae and putrid gases.
2. It has hundreds and hundreds of tiny
flying insects, biologicas manufactured
out of plant matter from the algae.
Handle them as “Oort Fies”, page #94,
but mostly controlled by the A.I.

alluring with
It is flattering and 4. Through its underlings. 3. The algae has spun long whipping
aracters as if
4 promises for the ch
tentacles from the bowels of the freighter.
present of a
they were in the 4. The A.I. have got contact with creatures
God. from the void, hounds living outside of our
the space and time.

Void Hounds. Reptile like dark animals with glittering teeth. Comes in packs of 1+1D6
BDY +1, DEX +1, SVY –3, ML 9, HP 4, DR 12, ATK bite (BDY, 1d6)
Special: Tries to drag living victims into the abyss beyond time and space, which can be done in a
straight corner. If the hound have locked its jaw on a victim it will attempt to drag it into the void on
its next turn. Roll Bdy (10) to resist. Victims that successfully return from the void is corrupted.
(1D6)
W h y w a s t h e s h i p f r o z e n ? ? ? ?? ?? ??

1. The Ship has had a bridging malfunction that left them frozen to the core.
2. The Crew seem to have frozen the ship themselves. Characters might
realize that this was because the cargo was dangerous.

3. The ship was damaged in combat and the hull is scarred of star shaped
holes from an unknown weapon system

4. The Crew became insane and froze the ship. Evidence of their insanity is
obvious in the ships ceiling
5. The Ship was assaulted and eaten by a beast that came out of the darkness
between the Stars. The ice is the frozen thick mucus from the beast.
6. The ship was controlled by a foreign computer system that flew it against the
crew's wishes into a stellar ice geyser.

A.I. - i n f e c t e d a n i m a l s / h u m a n s , g e t …
(1D6)
1. itching and tingling sensations in the rapidly spreading eczema. Anger.

2. dulled body parts, dizziness and

blood pressure. Sadism.
drop in
3. really H U N G R Y with the feeling that
something is crawling under their skin. 4. shortness
of bre ath accompa
Self-pity. cough of a to nied by pers
ugh black m istent
ucus. Affla
5. hypersensitive to sensory stimuli. Tics. tus.
6. different people get different symptoms from those above when they are inflicted but with added bad-smelling gases through the mouth and anus.