Hostile RPG's world of Cyclops is perfect for a tense, claustrophobic, and genuinely perilous adventure. It combines the deep-space isolation of Alien with the corporate desperation of resource exploitation. This picks up from the Cyclop review here on the blog.
Since Cyclops is a notoriously dangerous, resource-rich, and heavily mined asteroid belt/planetary system, our campaign should focus on the corporate rivalry, the brutal environment, and the risks inherent in deep-space salvage.
Here is a concept for an adventure campaign titled "The Cerberus Echo" set in the Cyclops system.
The Cerberus Echo: A Hostile RPG Campaign
1. The Premise
The campaign begins with the player crew (likely a chartered merchant freighter or a specialized salvage crew) receiving an urgent, high-paying contract from a shadowy shell corporation acting on behalf of Stellar Exploitation & Research (SER) or a similar megacorp.
The job: Investigate a deep-space transmission emanating from the derelict "Cerberus" Mining Station located deep within the unstable and highly guarded Kharon Zone of the Cyclops system. The station was abandoned over a year ago after a catastrophic "containment failure." The crew must investigate the source of the transmission, secure any valuable data, and, most importantly, confirm if a unique, experimental piece of mining technology is still onboard.
2. 🪐 Key Locations & Acts
The campaign is structured around three main acts, each introducing escalating threats and moral quandaries:
Act I: The Approach & Ghost Ship
Location: The Kharon Zone and the Cerberus Station exterior.
Conflict: Navigating the Kharon Zone is treacherous (high Navigation/Pilot checks). The station exterior is heavily damaged by micro-meteorites and radiation. The crew must perform a high-risk EVA to dock.
Discovery: The station's interior is coated in a strangely resilient, crystallized biological residue (the "containment failure"). The crew finds that the emergency beacon transmitting the signal is actually being triggered by a malfunctioning, damaged synthetic. The synth is panicked and incoherent, but hints at something having "taken" the crew.
Act II: The Descent & The Wreck
Location: The Lower Mines of the attached asteroid, and a recent Wrecked Salvage Hauler nearby.
Conflict: Following clues from the synth's data logs, the crew discovers that the "containment failure" was not a gas leak, but a biological entity unleashed by a rival corporation (OmniCorp) attempting industrial sabotage. The entity is still active in the lower, unsealed mine shafts.
Challenge: The crew must salvage the target experimental technology (a massive plasma drill controller) from a flooded, unstable section of the mine while avoiding the creature. They also encounter the true owner of the salvage hauler—a desperate, heavily armed competitor trying to claim the prize first.
Act III: The Truth & The Getaway
Location: A clandestine OmniCorp Research Outpost disguised as a derelict processing platform.
Conflict: The experimental technology the crew recovered (the Ares Drill Controller) is not a mining tool; it is a bio-signal beacon designed to control the biological entity. The megacorp that hired the players (SER) intends to weaponize the creature.
The Climax: SER's security detachment arrives, demanding the controller and threatening to purge the area. The player crew must make a difficult choice:
Escape: Fight the SER forces, potentially using the controller to sic the creature on the corporate goons.
Betray: Hand over the controller to SER for the promised massive payment.
Destroy: Attempt to overload and destroy the controller and the creature's lair, potentially sacrificing their escape to prevent a bio-weapon catastrophe.
3. Key NPCs
Patch (The Synth): Damaged synthetic found on Cerberus. He is programmed for station maintenance and is desperately trying to restore "order." He sees the creature as a virus and the players as his only potential anti-virus. (Can be a valuable, if glitchy, source of information).
Captain Kael: The leader of the rival salvage crew encountered in Act II. Driven, cynical, and willing to sacrifice anyone (including the players) to get a payday. He's a direct combat threat.
Director Vorl: The icy, high-ranking security head for SER who arrives in Act III. He treats the players as disposable assets and will authorize lethal force without hesitation to secure the Ares Controller.
The creature needs to embody the core fears of the setting: uncontrolled bio-engineering, corporate hubris, and an inability to truly contain a threat.
Here is the profile for the main antagonist, the product of the catastrophic "containment failure" on Cerberus Station: The Resilient Mycelial Horror (RMH).
The Resilient Mycelial Horror (RMH)
The RMH is a highly aggressive, genetically-modified fungal organism. It was initially designed by OmniCorp to break down and process difficult trace elements from asteroid rock faster than industrial machinery. Instead, it became sentient, rapidly consuming all organic and synthetic life on Cerberus Station, using the processed materials to grow and spread its crystalline fungal network.
Profile & Stats (Using Cepheus Engine / Hostile Conventions)
| Trait | Rating | Notes |
| STRENGTH | 12 | Powerful grip, capable of crushing armor. |
| DEXTERITY | 8 | Slow, deliberate movement due to its size. |
| ENDURANCE | 15 | Extremely difficult to kill; highly resilient. |
| ARMOR | 6 | Crystalline exoskeleton; ignores $\le 6$ damage hits. |
| MOVEMENT | 3m (Crawl) | Only 3 meters per round, but highly effective in cramped spaces. |
| ATTACKS | 1 (Melee Tentacle) | $3\text{D}6$ Damage. Ignores target's $\text{ARMOR}$ up to 4. |
| WOUNDS | 15 | Total damage required to bring it down. |
| FEAR/STRESS | 10+ | Requires a high roll to remain composed in its presence. |
🔬 Unique Abilities
The RMH is a creature of the environment it creates, making location and maintenance a key part of the fight.
1. Fungal Spore Cloud
Trigger: When the RMH takes 5+ damage in a single attack.
Effect: The creature releases a cloud of highly infectious, bio-reactive spores in a 5-meter radius. Any organic being within the cloud must immediately make an ENDURANCE (10+) Check.
Failure: The target is Disoriented and suffers a -1 penalty to all Checks for $1\text{D}6$ rounds. They are now Infected (see Spore Infection below).
2. Crystalline Bio-Armor
Effect: The RMH has an armor rating of 6. This chitinous, crystalline shell is resistant to standard weaponry. Small arms fire (like a standard pistol) with a damage code of $1\text{D}6$ or less will be completely ineffective (damage is absorbed by the armor). Players must use heavy weaponry, plasma torches, or other high-damage/specialized tools to bypass this protection.
Weakness: Direct application of Acid or Fire damage is highly effective, bypassing 3 points of its $\text{ARMOR}$.
3. Corrosive Slime Trail
Effect: Due to its composition, the RMH leaves behind a trail of highly corrosive, biological slime wherever it moves.
Any character moving through a square/zone recently occupied by the RMH must make a DEXTERITY (8+) Check.
Failure: The character slips (loses one action) and takes $\mathbf{1\text{D}3}$ points of damage to their armor (reduces $\text{ARMOR}$ value) from the corrosive nature of the trail.
4. Spore Infection (The Silent Clock)
This is the true horror, making a long, drawn-out fight a terrible idea.
Mechanism: Every time a character fails the ENDURANCE Check from the Fungal Spore Cloud, they gain one stack of Infection.
Effect: Once a character reaches 3 stacks of Infection, the spores rapidly mature. The character is permanently Sick, suffering a -1 penalty to their ENDURANCE (reducing WOUNDS and ability to resist damage) until they can receive specialized medical treatment (requires a Medtech to succeed on a Difficult (12+) Medicine Check with the proper Bio-Aesthetics equipment). If $\text{ENDURANCE}$ drops to 0, they become a spawning ground for the RMH.
This creature is designed to incentivize smart tactics: using high-powered tools, exploiting the acid/fire weakness, and, most importantly, getting the hell out of the station before the infection takes hold.
The gear found on Cerberus Station should feel appropriate for a deep-space mining and research disaster—powerful, industrial, and often repurposed for combat.
Here are five unique pieces of gear the crew might find abandoned on the derelict station, mixing specialized mining tools with prototype corporate tech:
Specialized Gear & Weapons (Cerberus Station Salvage)
1. The Heavy Duty Plasma Cutter (H.D.P.C.)
Description: A massive, two-handed industrial tool originally designed for cutting through reinforced asteroid hulls. It generates a devastating short-range blast of super-heated plasma. It draws immense power and is very clumsy to use in combat.
Weapon Profile:
Range: 10m (Short)
Damage: $4\text{D}6$ (Heat/Plasma)
Special: Requires $\mathbf{1}$ Action to Brace (aim) and $\mathbf{1}$ Action to Fire (2 actions total). Ignores 5 points of the target's $\text{ARMOR}$. Excellent for fighting the Crystalline Bio-Armor of the RMH (applies the Fire damage weakness).
Drawback: If the attack misses, the plasma blast is unstable. Make an immediate DEXTERITY (8+) Check. Failure means the nearest piece of heavy equipment (including the user's $\text{ARMOR}$) takes $1\text{D}6$ damage.
2. The SER 'Chameleon' EVA Suit
Description: A standard Stellar Exploitation & Research EVA suit, but equipped with a prototype active camouflage system intended for discreet geological surveys. The exterior polymer panels subtly shift color and absorb local light, mimicking the Bio-Adhesive Skin Grafts but in suit form.
Gear Effect: Provides ARMOR 8 (standard EVA protection) and grants a +2 bonus to all Stealth Checks while in environments with sufficient cover or complex visual fields (asteroid interiors, station corridors).
Drawback: The camouflage system requires continuous power. The suit's standard oxygen supply is reduced by 25% when the camouflage is active (important during long EVAs). It is completely ineffective in open, star-lit space.
3. The Chem-Analyzer Pistol
Description: A highly specialized research tool resembling a small pistol. Instead of bullets, it fires a focused stream of chemically reactive foam intended to instantly test the composition of rock surfaces. The foam contains highly concentrated, caustic reagents.
Weapon Profile:
Range: 5m (Point Blank)
Damage: $1\text{D}6$ (Acid/Corrosive)
Special: This weapon bypasses all armor. Instead of hitting the target's $\text{WOUNDS}$, a successful hit reduces the target's Armor Rating by $1\text{D}3$ (minimum 0). Effective against heavily armored opponents like Security Enforcers and the RMH's crystalline shell.
Limited Ammo: Only $4$ shots remain when found. Refills are specialized and Difficult (DV 17) to acquire.
4. The Nano-Repair Patch Kit (Corp-Grade)
Description: A rare, high-value medical item found in the Officer's private quarters. This kit contains bio-synthetic patches pre-loaded with nanites designed for fast structural repair. While intended for healing deep cuts, it is also highly effective at sealing breaches.
Medical Effect: Can be used to heal $1\text{D}6$ $\text{WOUNDS}$ instantly (Action: $\text{TECH}$ or $\text{Medicine}$ $\text{DV}$ 8+).
EVA/Ship Effect: Can be used on a hull breach (ship or suit). Requires a successful TECH (10+) Check. On success, it seals a small puncture, buying the crew $1\text{D}3$ extra rounds before catastrophic depressurization/hull failure.
Limited Supply: Only $2$ patches are found in the kit.
5. The Ares Drill Controller Data-Pad
Description: The experimental mining technology the crew was hired to retrieve. It is an encrypted data-pad encased in reinforced polymer. It is useless as a weapon but is the core MacGuffin of the campaign.
Gear Effect: The pad is heavily encrypted. Requires a difficult TECH (12+) Check to gain access to the data logs, which slowly reveal that it is a bio-signal beacon (the tool for controlling the RMH).
Campaign Effect: Once the crew recovers this, Act III immediately triggers as the megacorp security forces (and others) will now actively hunt the crew to retrieve it, making the recovery of this data-pad the highest priority risk/reward action in the campaign.
Scenario Hook: Initial Briefing
1. The Contact
The crew receives an encrypted, priority-one communication. The sender is identified only as Agent Cygnus, a Fixer operating deep within the administrative layers of Stellar Exploitation & Research (SER), one of the primary mining megacorps in the Cyclops system.
The briefing takes place in a neutral, highly secure, automated orbital station—a place far from any port authority or common prying eyes. Agent Cygnus (who appears as a sharp, androgynous figure with perfectly maintained synth-skin) is present via high-fidelity, highly static-prone holographic projection.
2. The Contract Details
Agent Cygnus skips pleasantries and gets straight to business.
"You have been chartered for a discrete, high-risk retrieval operation within the Kharon Zone. I represent an investment group with deep financial ties to SER. A year ago, the Cerberus Mining Station was catastrophically shut down and abandoned following a containment failure—toxic gas, radiation, the standard mess. The official story is that the assets are written off."
"Our intelligence indicates one piece of experimental technology was left behind: the Ares Drill Controller. This prototype is vital to SER’s upcoming Phase III expansion. We need it back before the corporation officially liquidates the Cerberus sector, which will happen in the next 72 hours."
| Mission Parameter | Detail |
| Target Location | Cerberus Mining Station, Kharon Zone (Cyclops System) |
| Asset Priority | The Ares Drill Controller Data-Pad |
| The "Threat" | Debris, radiation, and the potential for corporate scavenger patrols. |
| The Payday | $\mathbf{15,000 \text{ E\$}}$ upon verification and delivery of the Data-Pad. (Payment is split $\mathbf{50\%}$ upfront, $\mathbf{50\%}$ upon delivery). |
3. The Deception
Cygnus provides highly sanitized data and stresses two crucial lies:
The Cause of the Disaster: "It was a simple hydrogen sulfide leak combined with reactor instability. All life on board perished from asphyxiation. You will find corpses, but nothing actively hostile." (The truth: The RMH caused the failure).
The Nature of the Asset: "The Ares Drill Controller is a proprietary seismic sensor and plasma regulator. It is an extremely valuable, non-weaponized mining tool." (The truth: It is the bio-signal beacon for the RMH).
4. The Hook: The Echo
Cygnus concludes the briefing by explaining the trigger for the mission:
"The asset is confirmed present because the station’s automated beacon system has recently begun transmitting a heavily corrupted signal. It’s an unstable loop—an echo. It's likely the Drill Controller is powering a segment of the comms system. You need to investigate the source of that echo.
"We need you to move fast. Do not engage any corporate security. Do not call for assistance. Keep this mission discreet. We don't want SER's internal audit to flag the asset before we retrieve it."
The player crew has their coordinates, half their payment, and a 72-hour window before SER is "officially" mandated to purge the sector with orbital bombardment.
he journey into the Kharon Zone should be more than a simple travel montage; it must immediately establish the hostile environment of the Cyclops system and put stress on the player's Pilot and Tech skills.
Here are the navigation and environmental hazards the crew faces upon entering the Kharon Zone.
Kharon Zone: Environmental & Navigation Hazards
The Kharon Zone is an unstable, heavily cratered region of the Cyclops asteroid belt. It is characterized by intense radiation, high concentrations of fast-moving metallic debris, and unpredictable gravitational forces caused by nearby gas giants.
1. The Gravity Tides
The proximity of a massive gas giant causes unpredictable shifts in the local gravitational field, making maintaining a steady course incredibly difficult.
Hazard: Upon entering the Kharon Zone, the Pilot must make a Pilot (Gravitational) Check (DV 14).
Success: The ship maintains course and enters the area safely.
Failure: The ship is thrown off course. The crew loses $1\text{D}6$ hours, and the ship sustains $1\text{D}3$ points of Hull Damage from stress (reducing max Hull points).
Critical Failure (Roll of 1): The ship is violently thrown into an unstable orbit. The Pilot must make a second, immediate Pilot Check (DV 16) or the ship suffers a debilitating Major System Failure (Engine, Jump Drive, or Life Support, GM's choice).
2. The Debris Field
The area is notorious for its density of high-velocity micro-meteorite swarms, remnants from previous corporate mining operations and asteroid collisions.
Hazard: As the ship maneuvers toward the Cerberus Station, the Engineer/Tech must make a TECH (Sensors/Countermeasures) Check (DV 12) to adjust the sensor arrays and activate the forward kinetic deflectors.
Success: Deflectors hold; the ship takes no damage.
Failure: The deflectors are overwhelmed. The ship takes $2\text{D}6$ damage to its Hull (standard damage, not hull points).
Critical Failure (Roll of 1): A critical sensor is hit. The crew suffers a -1 penalty to all future Pilot checks within the Kharon Zone until the sensor array is manually repaired (requires a TECH (14+) Check and 1 hour of labor).
3. High Background Radiation
The Kharon Zone sits within a major radiation efflux of the Cyclops sun, requiring the ship's internal shielding to be at maximum efficiency.
Hazard: After the ship has been in the Kharon Zone for $\mathbf{24}$ hours, every crew member must make an ENDURANCE (10+) Check to resist the insidious effects of background radiation.
Success: They suffer no ill effects.
Failure: They receive 1 stack of Radiation Exposure. This results in a temporary -1 penalty to their ENDURANCE stat (for wound tracking) until they leave the zone and receive specialized treatment.
Repeated Failure: This adds a constant, low-level threat, forcing players to manage their time on the station carefully, as prolonged exposure leads to debilitating sickness.
4. The Corporate Snooper
Even with the area supposedly abandoned, corporate spies and competing salvage crews are drawn to such a high-profile "dead" zone.
Hazard: The ship's Comms/Sensors Officer must make a TECH (Evasion) Check (DV 13) to ensure the ship's emissions profile is minimized and that they are not tracked.
Success: They slip past unnoticed.
Failure: They are detected by a low-profile OmniCorp Recon Drone (similar to the Hostile Drone in the previous table, but equipped with a strong comms link). The drone flees immediately and begins reporting the crew's position. This acts as a countdown, increasing the chance of encountering Security Patrols in Act II.
The initial journey has been fraught with risk, setting the tone for the isolation and danger of the mission.
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