The Titan in the Helix
A One-Shot System Agnostic Science Fiction Adventure
V 1.0 by Kirt A. Dankmyer
Composite multi-spectrum image of the Helix Nebula, including its central star. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Ultraviolet:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSC; Optical: NASA/STScI(M. Meixner)/ESA/NRAO(T.A. Rector); Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Su & NASA/WISE
Something amazing has been discovered in the Helix
Nebula. Inside one of its cometary knots, there is something
that's been dubbed "The Titan". The Titan is a humanoid
corpse floating in space. The fact that it's mostly
human-shaped is the first thing that's odd.
The second thing that's odd is the fact that its length /
height (head to toe) is 100,000 AU, or 15 trillion km (9.3
trillion miles). On the back of its right hand is a set of
structures that look like an abandoned city, about the size of
New York City.
The player characters (PCs) are going to investigate the
city, and the Titan itself.
This adventure will require some fleshing out by the GM. To
make it reusable, most facts about the adventure will be
determined randomly. Every table uses a twelve-sided die
(d12). There are 2,985,984 possible combinations for the
scenario.
I. Excluding size, how does the Titan differ from humans?
1. Gigantic third eye
2. Third arm on the left side
3. Surrounded by breathable atmosphere
4. Second face on the back
5. World-sized claws
6. Skin is covered in stalks of corn and wheat
7. Exists across multiple parallel timelines all at once
8. No head, face is in its chest
9. Visible fangs
10. Monkey-like tail (proportional in size)
11. Three legs in a tripod configuration
12. Roll twice on this table and keep both results. If this is
rolled a second (or third) time, GM picks one of the
unused results. If the same thing is rolled twice,
either double down (e.g. two monkey tails), increase
the size of the feature, or simply roll again.

II. Why are the player characters going to the city?
1. Scientific expedition
2. "Gold rush" (race with other groups to exploit)
3. Salvage rights (they found the Titan)
4. Colonization scouting team
5. Paramilitary commandos with mission to secure city
6. Pilgrimage (the Titan's discovery was foretold)
7. Government-backed expedition (plant a flag in city)
8. Last survivors of battle over the Titan (crash landing)
9. Rumor of cure for a terminal disease
10. Drawn to it psionically from light-years away
11. Chasing criminals that have landed in city
12. Hired by mysterious patron to destroy the city
III. What effect does the Titan have on those near it?
1. Slowly twists DNA to create mini-Titans
2. Hallucinations based on bad memories
3. Gain / increase psionic powers
4. Slowly become immortal and invulnerable
5. Minds corrupted by alien agenda of dead Titan
6. Can now speak the Titan's long-dead language
7. Very slowly turn to stone
8. Infects with a wasting disease
9. Inflicts homicidal urges
10. Can't bring oneself to engage in violence
11. Nameless fear and anxiety
12. Brain fog and migraines
All of this text is licensable under CC BY 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0).
Credit must be provided to Kirt A. Dankmyer and you must
provide a link to the license, as well as indicate if changes
were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but
not in any way that suggests Kirt A.Dankmyer or Ivanhoe
Unbound endorses you or your use.
Do not use my work if you are a fascist or bigot. If you have
to ask, you probably are.
All images in this document are, to my knowledge, in the
public domain.
IV. What opposes / complicates the PC's exploration?
1. Creatures that look like mini-Titans
2. Ancient maintenance robots
3. Half-real spacetime echoes of galactic history
4. Mutants, no single creature the same
5. Psionic predators
6. Criss-crossing rips in space and time
7. Crushing gravity
8. Strangely imperfect clones of the PCs
9. Magnetic storms and other strange weather
10. Whispering "ghosts" of people the PCs once knew
11. Pockets of toxic / corrosive atmosphere
12. Roll twice and keep both. If this is rolled again,
instead roll on the previous table (Table III) for an
additional effect the Titan has on people.
V. What do the PCs find in the center of the city?
1. Map showing trillions of other cities dug into the
Titan's flesh, hidden under the skin
2. An intact starship, light-years ahead of the galactic
tech level, with a helpful AI
3. A portal to something very like Hell
4. A radioactive pit filled with writhing blobs of flesh
5. An automated robot factory, still working
6. Versions of the PCs from a parallel dimension,
waiting for the PCs to arrive
7. Teleportation pad more powerful and safe than
anything the PCs have ever seen
8. An imprisoned, still-living mega-criminal from before
current galactic civilization
9. Gigantic library, mostly intact
10. Archive of live disease cultures & fungal spores
11. Moldy alien cyber-zombies
12. Preserved human corpses (DNA checks out), but 10x
larger than should be possible
VI. What unintended consequence will the visit bring?
1. PCs become carriers for alien zombie disease
2. PCs quietly shifted into a parallel timeline, no
one knows who they are after they leave the city
3. PCs become focus of a holy war
4. Titan "wakes up" from death
5. Portals to the Titan open up all over the galaxy
6. Central star of Helix Nebula goes nova
7. One or more PCs achieve de facto apotheosis
8. Titan skin / flesh becomes a major commodity
9. Disintegration storm surrounds the Titan,
preventing more visits
10. Stars begin winking out throughout the galaxy
11. When PCs leave the city, it is now 1000 years
later
12. Roll on Table III, only this effect happens after
they leave. Roll d6: On 1-2, only affects the PCs.
On 3-4, only affects those the PCs encounter.
On 5-6, affects both PCs and others.