Integrating Lovecraftian horror into a hard-science fiction setting like Orbital 2100 or the gritty, industrial future of The Hostile requires a shift from "magic" to non-Euclidean bio-engineering and multidimensional physics.
These "aliens"—perhaps a remnant of the Elder Things or a Mi-Go splinter faction—don't use circuits and wires. They use semi-sentient biological tissue and phased matter. This blog entry picks right up from here on the blog
The Race: The Litho-Biological Organisms (LBOs)
Known colloquially as "The Chime" due to the high-pitched harmonic resonance their bodies emit, these entities exist partially in a higher spatial dimension. They appear as shifting geometries of iridescent flesh and black glass.
Stats for Orbital 2100 (2D6 System)
STR: 10 (+2)
DEX: 7 (0)
INT: 15 (+3)
CON: 12 (+1)
Special Ability: Phase Shift. Can become intangible for 1D6 rounds once per day, passing through bulkheads.
Weakness: High-frequency radio interference causes them physical pain and -2 to all rolls.
Stats for The Hostile (D66 / Cepheus Engine)
STR: 11 (+1)
DEX: 6 (0)
END: 12 (+2)
INT: 14 (+2)
EDU: 18 (+3)
SOC: 0
Traits: Armor (4), Vacuum Breathing, Sanity Loss (1D6 on first encounter).
Featured Technology: The Resonance Lance
Instead of firing a projectile or a laser, this weapon vibrates the "strings" of local space-time.
Mechanics & Stats
The Resonance Lance looks like a flute carved from a human femur, wrapped in pulsing, translucent muscle. When "played" by the user’s thoughts, it emits a silent wave of harmonic distortion.
| System | Range | Damage | Special Effect |
| Orbital 2100 | 30m | 3D6 | Molecular Unbinding: Ignores non-biological armor. |
| The Hostile | Medium | 4D6 | Structural Failure: Deals double damage to synthetic materials/droids. |
The "Neural Parasite" Nav-Computer
In both settings, long-range FTL or interplanetary travel is taxing. The LBOs use a living navigation core.
Description: A tank of amniotic fluid containing a pulsating, multi-lobed brain interconnected with copper-like fungal filaments.
In-Game Benefit: Provides a +3 bonus to Navigation or Astrogation checks.
The Cost: The "computer" is telepathic. Crew members sleeping near the engine room must make a Willpower or Sanity save each night or suffer from vivid, terrifying dreams of non-human civilizations, resulting in a cumulative -1 penalty to Fatigue.
Adventure Seed: "The derelict in the Belt"
A corporate mining vessel (The Hostile) or a Lunar transport (Orbital 2100) finds a silent, black-glass monolith tumbling in orbit. Inside, the gravity works at 90-degree angles to the walls, and the "computers" are screaming.
"It wasn't that the door was locked; it's that the door was a mouth, and it required a secret frequency of grief to open."
Based on the visual artifacts recovered from the LBO encounters, here are the technical specifications for their bio-organic equipment. These items are designed to be compatible with both the Orbital 2100 (2D6) and The Hostile (D66/Cepheus) systems.
1. Ossified Sonic Shredder (The Bone-Gun)
This weapon is a terrifying fusion of calcium-based lattice and vibrating muscle tissue. It does not fire slugs; it fires "shards" of compressed air and sound.
Orbital 2100: * Damage: 3D6+2.
Special: On a natural 12, the target’s internal organs suffer harmonic rupture (additional 1D6 persistent damage for 2 rounds).
The Hostile: * Range: 25m.
Damage: 4D6.
Special: Zero-Recoil. Because it uses pneumatic-biological force, it provides no kickback, making it the perfect EVA/Zero-G weapon (+1 to hit in Zero-G).
2. Chitinous Symbiote Armor (The Living Suit)
Visible as a dark, jagged carapace that seems to "graft" onto the wearer's nervous system.
Orbital 2100: * Armor Rating: 8.
Benefit: Grants the Adrenaline Surge feat for free once per combat.
Cost: While wearing it, the user cannot heal naturally; the suit "eats" the wearer's nutrients to repair itself.
The Hostile: * Protection: 10.
Special: Provides full vacuum protection and an internal oxygen supply (via electrolysis of the wearer's sweat).
Sanity Check: Every time the suit is donned, the wearer must pass a MND/INT check or suffer 1 point of permanent Sanity loss as the suit's neural filaments probe their brain.
3. The Synaptic Navigation Vat (The Brain Core)
The large, suspended cerebral mass used for FTL calculations and deep-space sensor processing.
System Agnostic Mechanics:
Deep Scan: Allows the ship to detect vessels in "Silent Running" or stealth mode automatically within 10,000km.
The "Whisper" Effect: Any character acting as the "Operator" for this device gains a +2 bonus to Astrogation/Pilot checks but suffers a -2 penalty to all Social/Persuasion checks for 24 hours afterward due to "trans-dimensional dissociation."
4. Void-Glass Grenade (The Singularity Cyst)
A small, pulsing purple orb that looks like a cluster of grapes made of amethyst.
Orbital 2100: * Damage: 4D6 (5m Radius).
Effect: Creates a localized "gravity well." Anyone in the radius is knocked prone and pinned for 1 round.
The Hostile: * Damage: 5D6.
Effect: Atmospheric Collapse. In pressurized environments, this grenade creates a micro-vacuum for 3 seconds. Any unsealed suit or thin bulkhead in the area has a 50% chance of structural failure/implosion.
I'm glad the artwork hit the mark! To round out your campaign, here is the technical breakdown of the LBO "Void-Mollusk" Class Bio-Ship.
In the settings of Orbital 2100 and The Hostile, encountering one of these is a localized catastrophe. They don't appear on radar as metal hulls; they register as "massive biological anomalies" or "moving gas clouds."
The LBO Void-Mollusk (Frigate-Class)
The ship is a single, semi-conscious organism. Its "hull" is a layered shell of self-healing obsidian chitin and pressurized muscle. It does not use thrusters; it manipulates gravity to "fall" through space at incredible speeds.
Layout & Interior
The Maw (Airlock): A sphincter-like valve that dilates to allow boarding. It can "taste" the atmosphere of incoming craft.
The Neural Nexus (Bridge): Instead of screens, the pilots submerge their limbs into "Synaptic Wells"—pools of conductive gel that link their minds directly to the ship's sensory array.
The Digestive Core (Engine): A massive, glowing organ that consumes radioactive isotopes to generate the "Chime" (gravity propulsion).
Capillary Halls: Corridors are lined with pulsing veins. The walls are warm and slightly damp.
Stats: Orbital 2100 (Hard Sci-Fi Focus)
In Orbital, where delta-v and heat management are king, the LBO ship is an "impossible" vessel.
Acceleration: 4G (Sustained) / 8G (Burst)
Hull Integrity: 60
Sensors: +4 (Telepathic Echo - ignores electronic jamming)
Signature: -3 to be detected by standard Heat-Sinks (it operates at near-zero thermal output).
Special: Regenerative Chitin. Repairs 2 Hull points per hour unless the "Core" is destroyed.
Stats: The Hostile (Gritty Retro-Future Focus)
In The Hostile, the ship is a terrifying "Giger-esque" nightmare.
Hull: 50 / Structure: 40
Armor: 6 (Organic Ablative)
Speed: Maneuver 5
Weapons:
Resonance Beam: 4D6 Damage. Ignores 50% of target's armor.
Bio-Harpoons: 2D6 Damage. If it hits, the ships are "tethered," and the LBO ship begins to secrete acid onto the enemy hull.
Crew Sanity: Human boarders must make a MND check (Difficulty 10) every 10 minutes or suffer "Geometric Vertigo" (-2 to all actions).
Unique "Living" Component: The Spore Cloud
When threatened, the ship can vent a cloud of psycho-reactive spores.
Effect: Any ship within 5km has its sensors "blinded" by static that sounds like human screaming over the comms.
Human Exposure: If spores enter a human life-support system, the crew begins to see the ship's walls moving and shifting into "impossible angles."
When players board an LBO Bio-Ship, they aren't just sabotaging a machine; they are performing a high-stakes vivisection. Damaging these "internal organs" causes the ship to scream across all radio frequencies, a sound that can psychologically break an unshielded human.
Here is the Internal Critical Hit Table for the LBO Void-Mollusk.
Internal Critical Hit Table (2D6)
If the players deal significant damage to the interior or target a specific organ, roll on the table below:
| Roll | Organ Affected | Effect (Orbital 2100 & The Hostile) |
| 2 | Neural Clusters | The ship goes "Braindead." It continues on its current trajectory and cannot take any offensive or defensive actions for 1D6 turns. |
| 3-4 | Gas Bladders | Atmospheric Leak. The ship sprays pressurized caustic gas. Players in the room take 2D6 damage (Armor reduces this by half) and are blinded for 1 round. |
| 5-6 | Synaptic Relay | Feedback Loop. The ship lets out a psychic shriek. All non-LBO entities must pass a MND/Willpower check or be stunned for 1 round. |
| 7-8 | Capillary Valves | Ichor Flood. Corridors fill with thick, black bioluminescent fluid. Movement is halved and all DEX/Agility-based rolls are at -2. |
| 9-10 | Kinetic Ventricle | Gravity Flux. Gravity in the ship flips 180° or shuts off entirely. Anyone not tethered takes 1D6 falling damage. |
| 11-12 | Digestive Core | Systemic Shock. The ship begins a "Death Throe." It has 2D6 minutes before it implodes/self-destructs. |
Three Specific Internal Locations
1. The Pumping Chamber (Engine Room)
This is a massive, wet room where a heart the size of a shuttlecraft pulses.
Targeting the Valves: If players can sever the three primary arteries (Armor 4, 15 HP each), the ship loses its FTL/Gravity drive capability.
The Hazard: The chamber is filled with "Defense Phages"—white-cell-like organisms that act as security guards.
2. The Sensor Eye-Pit
Instead of a radar dish, the ship has a massive, multi-faceted eye housed in a transparent dome of void-glass.
Sabotage: Blinding the eye (5 HP) makes the ship effectively "blind" to external threats, but it will begin to wildly thrash its Bio-Harpoons in a blind panic.
3. The Nutrient Slurry Tank
This is where the ship breaks down "organic matter" (including captured crews) for fuel.
The Benefit: If players can introduce a concentrated toxin or heavy metal into this tank, the ship suffers -2 to all rolls as its entire biology begins to fail.
The "Death Throe" Mechanic
When an LBO ship reaches 0 Hull/Structure, it doesn't just explode into scrap. It undergoes Rapid Cellular Degradation.
Turn 1: The ship's internal temperature rises to 50°C (122°F).
Turn 2: The walls begin to dissolve, turning into acidic mulch (1D6 damage per turn to boots/suits).
Turn 3: The ship's gravity drive collapses, creating a localized singularity.
Alright, let's set the stage for a heart-pounding boarding action! Your players, a seasoned crew of space-hardened operatives from either Orbital 2100 or The Hostile, have been tasked with the ultimate suicide mission: Planting a fission device in the digestive core of an LBO Void-Mollusk.
Scenario: "The Core Breach"
Mission Briefing: The LBO Void-Mollusk, designated "Leviathan-7," has crippled several colonial transports and is now on an intercept course with the heavily populated station, New Hope Orbital (or Mining Colony Gamma-9). Direct ship-to-ship combat is proving ineffective due to its regenerative hull and unsettling resilience. Command has authorized a single, daring boarding action: get inside, plant the bomb in its "heart," and get out.
Team Objective:
Infiltrate the Void-Mollusk via the Maw.
Navigate to the Pumping Chamber (Digestive Core).
Arm and plant the fission device.
Exfiltrate the ship before detonation.
Starting Conditions:
The player's ship (or a commandeered shuttle) has managed to grapple onto the exterior of Leviathan-7 near its Maw (airlock).
The fission device is a heavy, cumbersome package (requires two hands to carry or a single character at -2 DEX/Agility).
Time is a factor: New Hope Orbital will be within range of Leviathan-7's primary weapon in 60 minutes. The bomb has a 5-minute arming sequence and a 10-minute countdown.
Phase 1: Infiltration (The Maw)
The team's shuttle is docked with the "Maw."
The Maw (Airlock): The sphincter-like entrance begins to slowly open, revealing a tunnel of pulsating, slick flesh. It smells of ozone and decay.
The Challenge (Orbital 2100): The Maw's musculature can detect bio-signatures. A successful TECH (Stealth) check (Difficulty 8) is required to enter without alerting the entire ship. Failure means a patrol of 2x Defense Phages immediately responds.
The Challenge (The Hostile): The Maw attempts to "sample" the air. A successful AGI (Piloting) check (Difficulty 9) from the shuttle pilot (or STR (Force) check (Difficulty 10) from boarders) is needed to jam the Maw open. Failure means 1D6 Sanity Loss from the overwhelming stench and the sight of internal "teeth."
Initial Resistance: Regardless of stealth, 1x Defense Phage will be encountered just inside the Maw as a standing guard.
Phase 2: Navigation to the Core (Capillary Halls & Gravity Flux)
The path to the Pumping Chamber is a maze of pulsing corridors.
Capillary Halls: The walls are lined with pulsing veins and feel warm and damp.
Hazard 1: Gravity Flux (Orbital 2100): Every 2 rounds, a random corridor section experiences a gravity shift (Roll 1D6: 1-2: Gravity off, 3-4: Gravity 90°, 5-6: Gravity normal). This requires a DEX (Acrobatics) check (Difficulty 7) or the character takes 1D6 falling damage and drops the bomb.
Hazard 2: Ichor Flood (The Hostile): Certain sections are filled with the thick, black bioluminescent ichor. Characters moving through it have their movement halved and all DEX/Agility-based rolls are at -2. Every minute in the ichor, a CON (Endurance) check (Difficulty 8) is needed to avoid 1 point of Fatigue.
Encounter: The team will run into 2x Defense Phages in one of these corridors. These Phages have adapted to the gravity shifts/ichor and ignore movement penalties.
Phase 3: The Pumping Chamber (The Heart of the Beast)
The players arrive at the massive, pulsating heart-like organ. The air is thick with the thrumming resonance.
The Chamber: A huge cavern, roughly 30m in diameter, with a colossal "heart" suspended in the center, constantly contracting and expanding. Three massive arteries connect it to the ship's structure.
Security: 3x Defense Phages are actively patrolling or guarding the arteries. They will engage on sight.
The Challenge (Orbital 2100): Planting the bomb requires a TECH (Demolitions) check (Difficulty 9) to correctly attach it to the core's energy conduit. The core's constant pulsing makes this difficult. The bomb's arming sequence takes 5 minutes (5 rounds).
The Challenge (The Hostile): The rhythmic pulsing of the core causes 1D6 Sanity Loss every round a character is in the room. Planting the bomb requires a STR (Engineering) check (Difficulty 10) to secure it to the shifting core. This also takes 5 rounds.
Secondary Objective (Optional): Disabling the three primary arteries (Armor 4, 15 HP each) will make the ship immobile, but it will also trigger the Systemic Shock critical hit (2D6 minutes to self-destruct) if the bomb isn't planted first.
Phase 4: Exfiltration (The Mad Dash)
Once the bomb is armed, the 10-minute countdown begins, and the ship begins to react violently.
Systemic Shock (All Systems): The entire ship now has -2 to all its own internal defensive actions, but also enters a "Death Throe" state.
New Hazard: Internal Temperature (Orbital 2100): The ship's internal temperature rises to 50°C (122°F). Every minute (every other round), characters must pass a CON (Endurance) check (Difficulty 7) or suffer 1 point of Fatigue.
New Hazard: Dissolving Walls (The Hostile): The corridors start to dissolve into acidic mulch. Any contact with walls or floor causes 1D6 damage per round to non-armored parts of the body. Suits take 1D6 damage every other round.
Chase Scene: The remaining Defense Phages (and possibly reinforcements) will actively pursue the team, knowing the ship is doomed.
Escape Window: The team must return to their shuttle and undock before the 10-minute countdown ends. The Maw will be slowly closing during this time, requiring a final STR (Force) or DEX (Agility) check to escape as it attempts to "swallow" the shuttle.
Success: The team escapes, and the Void-Mollusk detonates in a spectacular, sanity-shattering explosion, saving New Hope Orbital (or Mining Colony Gamma-9). Failure: The team is trapped, the bomb goes off, or Leviathan-7 reaches its target, unleashing untold horrors upon humanity.
To make this mission more than just a "bombing run," we need a McGuffin that justifies why they are boarding a living nightmare instead of just nuking it from orbit.
In a Lovecraftian setting, the best McGuffin is something intellectual, viral, or ancestral.
The McGuffin: The "Chorus Crystal" (Resonator Seed)
The LBOs don't use digital encryption; they use harmonic imprinting. Inside the ship’s "Memory Atrium" (located just behind the brain-core) is a floating, jagged shard of translucent obsidian that vibrates at a frequency humans can’t hear, but can feel in their teeth.
Why do they need it?
The Intelligence: It contains the "Source Code" for the LBO’s gravity-propulsion. If Earth’s corporations (in The Hostile) or the Lunar Government (in Orbital 2100) can study it, they can leapfrog human technology by 500 years.
The Kill-Switch: The crystal is the "Mother Tone." If captured, scientists can broadcast its frequency to instantly paralyze any other LBO ships in the system.
The Ransom: One of the LBOs' "Great Ancients" is telepathically bound to this specific crystal. Having it is the only leverage humanity has to stop the invasion.
Updated Mission Stakes
Now, the players have a Conflict of Interest:
The Bomb: Must be placed in the Digestive Core (The Bottom of the ship).
The McGuffin: Is located in the Memory Atrium (The Top of the ship).
The Timer: The ship is moving. They likely only have time to do one easily. Doing both requires splitting the party or a perfect, high-speed "Heist" through the capillary halls.
Technical Stats for the Chorus Crystal
The "Hard Choice" Moment
As the players reach the Core to plant the bomb, the Crystal begins to glow. It’s not just a hard drive; it’s a life-support unit for a larval LBO. * Option A: Extract the Crystal. You get the tech and the leverage, but the ship "screams," alerting every enemy on board to your exact position for the escape.
Option B: Leave the Crystal. The mission is safer, but humanity remains defenseless against the next ship.
Option C: Destroy the Crystal. It might kill the ship instantly, but the psychic backlash could turn the players' brains to jelly.
The outcome of this mission will ripple across the solar system, potentially shifting the genre of your campaign from "Survival Horror" to "Interstellar War" or "Cosmic Transformation."
Here is the Resolution Table based on the crew's success or failure regarding the two primary objectives.
Mission Resolution Table
| Objectives Met | Ending Title | Campaign Consequences |
| Both (Bomb & Crystal) | The Prometheus Heist | Total Victory. The ship is destroyed, and Earth/The Colonies now possess the "Chorus Crystal." Within months, humanity begins testing its first gravity-propulsion drives. However, the LBOs now know exactly where "The Thieves" live. The player who carried the crystal starts dreaming in alien geometries. |
| Bomb Only (No Crystal) | Pyrrhic Survival | Status Quo. The threat is neutralized, and the station is saved. The crew are hailed as heroes, but corporate/government handlers are furious that the "tech" was lost. The LBOs remain a terrifying mystery, and the next ship to arrive will be much harder to board. |
| Crystal Only (No Bomb) | The Traitor’s Bargain | Disaster. The crew escapes with the Crystal, but the Void-Mollusk reaches the station. Thousands die as the ship "harvests" the population. The crew is now hunted by the law as war criminals, but they hold the only piece of tech that can eventually stop the LBOs. |
| Neither (Failure) | The Silence of the Void | Campaign Shift. The mission fails. The station/colony is consumed and turned into a massive "Hatchery" for LBO larvae. The solar system enters a Dark Age. If any players survived, the campaign becomes a "Resistance" story in a dying system. |
Post-Mission: The "Crystal's Wake"
If the players successfully retrieved the Chorus Crystal, roll 1D6 for a long-term campaign effect:
Technological Boon: Humanity unlocks FTL (Faster-Than-Light) travel within 1 year. The setting shifts from Orbital 2100 to a galactic-scale exploration game.
Psychic Viral Load: The crystal begins broadcasting. Every human within 1 AU starts hearing a faint "Chime." Suicides and cult activity spike by 400%.
The Beacon: The crystal wasn't just a hard drive; it's a homing beacon. 1D6 more Void-Mollusks will arrive at the crystal's location in 6 months.
Biological Mutagen: Scientists studying the crystal accidentally release a bio-strain. The lab staff begins turning into Defense Phages.
The Mirror: The player who carried the crystal gains the ability to "Phase Shift" once per day (as the LBO trait), but their skin begins to turn into black, iridescent glass.
The Peace: The crystal contains a "White Flag." It’s a diplomatic primer. Humanity realizes the LBOs aren't invading; they are fleeing something much, much worse.
Final GM Tip: The "Scream"
If the players are still on the ship when the bomb goes off, describe the sound not as an explosion, but as a cosmic chord. For a brief second, they don't see the ship—they see the birth of the universe.
Orbital 2100 Players: Gain +1 to any Science skill permanently from the sheer data dump.
The Hostile Players: Lose 1D10 Sanity but gain a permanent "Forbidden Knowledge" trait.
To finalize your LBO boarding mission, you need the Defense Phages. These are the ship's "white blood cells"—biological security drones that don't have a culture or a name, only the instinct to purge "pathogens" (the players).
The Defense Phage (LBO Guardian)
These creatures look like a cross between a deep-sea isopod and a floating cluster of surgical needles. They don't walk; they hover using internal gas bladders and localized gravity manipulation.
Stats: Orbital 2100 (Hard Sci-Fi Focus)
STR: 8 (-1) | DEX: 12 (+1) | INT: 3 (-3) | CON: 10 (0)
Hull/HP: 15
Armor: 4 (Hardened Chitin)
Movement: 10m (Hovering/Ignoring difficult terrain)
Attack: Molecular Rasp. 2D6 damage. On a hit, roll 1D6. On a 5-6, it punctures the player's suit, causing a Decompression Risk.
Stats: The Hostile (Gritty Survival Focus)
STR: 9 (0) | DEX: 11 (+1) | END: 12 (+2) | INT: 2 (-2)
HP: 18
Armor: 6
Sanity Loss: 1/1D4 (The way they "unfold" is nauseating).
Attack: Neuro-Stinger. 3D6 damage. If damage exceeds the player's END, they are Paralyzed for 1D6 rounds as their nervous system is "rebooted" by alien toxins.
Special Abilities (Both Systems)
Phasing Camouflage: The Phages can blend into the pulsing walls of the ship. When attacking from "Hiding," they gain +2 to hit and the player must pass a Perception/EDU check to spot them before they strike.
Hive Resonance: If one Phage is killed, it emits a high-pitched death-shriek. All other Phages on the ship now know the players' exact location for the next 10 minutes.
Wall Crawlers: They ignore gravity. They can attack from the ceiling, the floor, or out of the "Ichor Pools" described in the navigation phase.
Combat Tactics for the GM
In the Capillary Halls: Phages will wait until a player is struggling with a Gravity Flux or Ichor Flood before striking. They prefer to target the person carrying the Bomb or the Crystal.
In the Core: They will attempt to "Grapple" players and drag them into the pulsing arteries of the heart, where the acidic environment deals an extra 1D6 damage per round.
In the Atrium: They act as shields for the Great Ancient, throwing themselves in front of bullets or flares meant for the projection.
Visualizing the Encounter
"The darkness of the corridor doesn't just feel empty; it feels hungry. You see a ripple in the meat-like wall, and suddenly, a cluster of obsidian needles unfolds. It doesn't breathe, it doesn't growl—it just emits a low, vibrating hum that makes your teeth ache. Then, it lunges."
Final Preparation Checklist:
The Map: Treat the ship as a linear "Dungeon" (Maw → Halls → Atrium → Core → Escape).
The Timer: Keep a d6 or a countdown clock visible to the players to represent the ship's approach to the station.
The Tone: Remind them that their tech (radios, scanners) acts glitchy near the LBO tech—use static and distorted descriptions to keep them on edge.
In the LBO ships, there are no lockers or crates. Instead, there are Storage Cysts—translucent, vein-wrapped sacs hanging from the ceiling that must be sliced open to reveal their contents. Usually, they contain nutrient gruel, but occasionally, a "Pathogen" (a previous victim or scavenger) is preserved inside along with their gear and strange LBO "relics."
Here is a table of Alien Loot & Salvage for your crew to find.
The Storage Cyst Table (Roll 1D6)
| Roll | Item | Description & Effect |
| 1 | Vocal Harmonizer | A small, vibrating throat-graft. If pressed to the neck, it allows a human to speak in LBO "Chimes." Provides +3 to Stealth against Phages, but the user loses the ability to speak human languages for 24 hours. |
| 2 | "Ichor-Standard" Medkit | A syringe filled with glowing blue fluid. It heals 2D6 HP instantly, but the character's eyes turn solid black for 1 hour, granting Night Vision but causing -2 to Social rolls. |
| 3 | Phased Multi-Tool | A tool made of "solid shadow." It can pass through 2 inches of any non-biological material. Excellent for bypassing human electronic locks (+4 to Tech checks) or sabotaging bulkheads. |
| 4 | Corpse of a "Grey" | The remains of a different alien race. Searching the body yields a Zero-Point Battery. It can power a human ship’s entire grid for a week or be used to overcharge a Laser Rifle to deal Double Damage (once). |
| 5 | Folding Geometry Map | A 4D cube that, when touched, projects a holographic map of the local star cluster. It reveals a Hidden LBO Outpost in the Oort Cloud, sparking a new quest. |
| 6 | The Living Grenade | A pulsing, heart-like organ. When thrown, it doesn't explode; it grows rapidly into a Temporary Barricade of bone and sinew that can absorb 30 damage before dissolving. |
Rare Salvage: The "Neural Record"
If the players spend 5 minutes (a risky move!) "harvesting" a dead Defense Phage or a piece of the Atrium glass, they find a Neural Record.
The Content: It’s not a video; it’s a sensory memory. The player who uses it experiences 10 seconds of the LBO Home-world.
The Benefit: The player gains a permanent +1 to Pilot (FTL) or Navigation as they now "understand" how space-time folds.
The Cost: In The Hostile, this triggers an immediate Sanity Check (Difficulty 12). On a failure, the player gains a "Phobia of Open Spaces."
Final GM "Gift": The Narrative Twist
If the players are about to escape, you can throw in one last detail: As they run through the Maw, they see a human-made corporate logo (Weyland-Yutani style or a Lunar Gov seal) etched into a piece of biological hardware.
Someone from Earth helped build this thing. Or someone from Earth is being grown inside it.
Summary Table: Tech Comparison
| Item | Tech Type | Main Drawback | Best Use Case |
| Sonic Shredder | Ranged Bio-Weapon | High Maintenance (Needs "feeding") | Boarding Actions / Zero-G |
| Symbiote Armor | Protective Graft | Neural Degradation | Extreme Environment Survival |
| Brain Core | FTL Computer | Psychological Trauma | Long-Range Exploration |
| Glass Grenade | Gravity Ordnance | Unpredictable (Collateral Damage) | Area Denial / Anti-Vehicle |
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