This artwork brings the "Used Future" of Hostile to life. I’ve visualised the M577-A1 "Scorpion" in the "Sun-Bleached Frontier" scheme, complete with desert-tan paint and the hand-painted "Grim Reaper" motif you selected.
You can see the crew in their bulky hazmat suits preparing the Davy Crockett smoothbore launcher. The desolation of the lunar colony backdrop and the "Broken Atom" stencils capture the desperate nature of deploying a mini-nuke in the frontier.
Gemini said
If you’re running a Hostile campaign (or any 2D6-based Cepheus Engine game), introducing a "tactical" nuclear weapon is a quick way to turn a sci-fi thriller into a high-stakes disaster movie.
In the gritty, industrial world of Hostile, the M388 Davy Crockett isn't a high-tech laser; it’s a blunt, terrifying relic of "Cold War 2.0" thinking—cheap, dirty, and devastatingly effective for colony defense or clearing out "biological infestations."
Weapon Profile: M388 Davy Crockett (Tactical Nuke)
The Davy Crockett is a recoilless gun system that fires a sub-kiloton nuclear projectile.
Mechanics & Effects
Using a nuke in a tabletop RPG is less about "rolling to hit" and more about "managing the aftermath."
The Blast (Thermal/Overpressure): Everything within the 150m "Ground Zero" takes 12d6 damage. Unless you are inside a reinforced bunker or a starship-grade hull, survival is unlikely. Vehicles are typically flipped or crushed.
The Flash: Anyone looking toward the blast without specialized polarized visors (standard for Marine Heavy Suits) must pass a Difficult (10+) END check or suffer permanent blindness.
Radiation (The "Dirty" Part): * The Davy Crockett is notorious for its high neutron output.
Characters within 500m take 2d6 Rads per round unless protected.
In the Hostile setting, this leads to Radiation Sickness (STR/END loss) and requires immediate anti-rad meds.
Combat Integration for Referees
In Hostile, space is a corporate asset. Using a Davy Crockett inside a colony dome or near valuable mining equipment is a "firing offense" (literally).
Referee’s Note: The Davy Crockett has a massive "Minimum Safe Distance." If the wind is blowing the wrong way or the operator misses the roll, the players are just as likely to die from the fallout as the target is from the blast.
Potential Plot Hooks
The Lost Crate: A colonial transport crashed in the outlands carrying three M388 warheads. The players are hired to recover them before scavengers (or a rival corp) find them.
The Last Stand: The players are pinned down by a swarm of xenomorphic threats. The corporate handler gives them the "Red Box"—a Davy Crockett—with instructions to use it only as a last resort.
Broken Arrow: A disgruntled security officer has barricaded himself in the life-support wing with a mini-nuke, demanding a shuttle off-world.
Gemini said
In the rugged, "Used Future" aesthetic of Hostile, you need a vehicle that is expendable, high-torque, and capable of outrunning a mushroom cloud.
The most lore-appropriate choice for a Davy Crockett mount is a modified M577-A1 "Mule" Light Utility Vehicle. Unlike the heavy APCs used by the Marines, the Mule is a stripped-down, open-frame rover designed for colonial security and hazardous environment transport.
The M577-A1 "Scorpion" (Nuclear Support Variant)
The "Scorpion" is a field modification of the standard Weyland-Yutani utility rover. The rear cargo bed is replaced with a heavy-duty reinforced tripod and a hydraulic recoil-dampening system to house the Davy Crockett smoothbore launcher.
Key Features
Recoil Compensators: Because the Davy Crockett is a recoilless gun, it vents a massive "backblast" of hot gas. The Scorpion is fitted with a heat-shielded cab to prevent the crew from being cooked when the weapon is fired.
Radiation-Hardened Avionics: The vehicle’s electronics are shielded against the EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) generated by its own payload, ensuring the engine doesn't die immediately after detonation.
Survey Sensors: Equipped with a telescopic mast featuring thermal imaging and a Geiger counter to help the crew identify targets and avoid drifting fallout plumes.
Tactical Limitations
The "Glass Cannon": The Scorpion has almost no armor. It is designed to drive to a ridge, fire, and retreat immediately. If it takes a direct hit from a portable missile or heavy autocannon, the unshielded warheads in the back make for a very bad day.
Backblast Hazard: Anyone standing within 30 meters directly behind the vehicle when it fires takes 4d6 heat damage from the venting gases.
Using the Scorpion in a Session
In Hostile, combat is fast and lethal. To represent the difficulty of using such a primitive "dumb" nuke, use the following checks:
Deployment: Setting the tripod and calculating the trajectory (considering wind/gravity) requires a Routine (6+) Gunnery (Artillery) check.
The "Get Out" Phase: Once the projectile is away, the driver must make an Average (8+) Drive check to navigate difficult terrain while retreating at top speed to avoid the 150m lethal pressure wave.
Equipment Note: The crew should always be equipped with Rad-Suits or Heavy Combat Suits. Even with the shielded cab, the "Scorpion" is a dirty ride.
In the Hostile RPG, a nuke isn’t a "win button"—it’s a catastrophic moral choice. This campaign framework, titled "The Redline Protocol," focuses on a crew of blue-collar contractors caught between a corporate cover-up and an extinction-level biological threat.
Campaign Title: The Redline Protocol
Setting: The Tartarus Sector (a cluster of industrial moons on the "Rim")
Player Roles: Colonial Security, Roughnecks, or a "Sanitation" Team.
The Premise
The players are "Liquidators" working for the United Nations Space Command Agency (UNSCA) or a private PMC like Weyland-Yutani. Their job is to respond to "Broken Arrow" events—situations where experimental bio-hazards have breached containment and conventional military force has failed.
The campaign revolves around one specific M577-A1 "Scorpion" Rover (The "Last Resort") and its limited supply of four M388 Davy Crockett warheads.
Act 1: The Long Walk
The campaign begins with the players being dropped onto the mining moon of Acheron-V. The colony has gone dark. Their mission isn't to save people—it's to "Sanitize" the primary atmospheric processor which has been overrun by a fast-evolving fungal parasite or xenomorphic entity.
The Conflict: The players must escort the Scorpion Rover across 200km of hostile terrain. The rover is slow, the terrain is treacherous, and the local "fauna" is attracted to the vehicle's engine vibration.
The Hook: They find a group of survivors in a reinforced bunker directly beneath the target zone. If the players fire the Davy Crockett to stop the infestation, they kill the survivors.
Act 2: Corporate Treachery
After the first successful (or failed) deployment, the players discover that the "infestation" was a controlled experiment gone wrong.
The Twist: A rival corporate "Black-Ops" team (using the Stealth Paint Scheme) arrives to steal the remaining Davy Crockett warheads. They don't want to sanitize the moon; they want the nukes to destroy a competing company's orbital elevator.
The Gameplay: High-stakes vehicle combat. The players must use their Scorpion's sensors to play "cat and mouse" in a dust storm against stealth-coated predators.
Act 3: The Fallout
The final act focuses on the consequences. The players are now "Loose Ends." Their own employer has disavowed them to avoid a war crimes tribunal.
The Finale: The players must choose: Do they use their final warhead to destroy the corporate HQ (killing thousands but ending the threat), or do they try to escape the sector with the evidence of the company's crimes?
The Mechanics: Radiation sickness is now a factor. The Scorpion is battered, the lead lining is failing, and the players are coughing up blood (STR/END loss). It becomes a race against their own bodies.
Campaign Flavor: The "Hostile" Rules of Engagement
To keep the tension high, use these specific campaign rules:
Authorization Codes: The Davy Crockett cannot be fired without a 12-digit "Permit-to-Fire" code. These codes are held by a "Company Man" NPC or must be hacked under fire (Expert 12+ Computer check).
The Wind Factor: Every time they prep a shot, the Referee rolls 2d6. On a 12, the wind shifts. If they fire, the fallout will blow back onto the players' retreat path.
Moral Weight: At the end of every session where a nuke was used, players must make a Mojo/Sanity check. In Hostile, you don't just "walk off" being a nuclear executioner.
Character Motivation Table
Role Why are they here? The Driver Promised a "clean slate" and a ticket to Earth if they finish the tour. The Gunner A disgraced artillery officer who knows exactly what these shells do to a human body. The Medic Armed with a briefcase full of Rad-Away and a guilty conscience. The Tech The only one who knows how to bypass the "Safety Interlocks" on the Scorpion.
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