The Dark Freighter An Gamma World adventure for level 5 characters by Michael E. Shea Adventure summary Travelers on the Four Nine Five out near the black waters of the Pat Ow Mack have been kidnapped by robots and taken to a barge that travels up the river every few months. Black smoke belches up from its two hundred year old stacks and screams can be heard echoing from the night. Only a band of brave and skilled adventurers might find unravel the mystery of the Dark Freighter. During this adventure, the party is asked by Father Ash, the self-declared ruler of the town of Rebar, to investigate the disappearance of wanderers out east on the four nine five. Camping out near an overturned truck, ancient robots attack the party. On the party s success, they track back the robots trail to the Pat Ow Mack where sits the Dark Freighter. The party begins their assault on the Dark Freighter in the last of four sections. Here they are assaulted by zombies of differing ages. It is in this chamber where robots kill the zombies and turn them into fuel for the barge. The second section of the freighter contains shattered glass and the sludge of once lush plantlife. The sludge rises up into a gelatinous monstrosity and reanimated plant slimes. The third section of the ship contains living quarters. Here the party finds the original ancient zombie used by the robots to create more zombies out of captured humanoids. They also find the journals of the ship s original captain, long dead. In the final section of the ship, the party faces the Dark Freighter s mastermind, a floating robot probe and the final mystery of the Dark Freighter is revealed. The party may choose to reprogram the freighter, destroy it, salvage it for parts, or return the AI to Father Ash. Entering Rebar You could not say what path brought you to the town of Rebar, perhaps it was the darkening nights or the cold weather, bandits and travelers alike speak of Rebar s strange warmth. Perhaps it was the rumors of wealth, a functioning economy in a a shattered mash of worlds. Perhaps it was the blue glow that illuminates the night. However it happened, you come upon the town's gates cold and hungry but together. "If you're looking for work, you might talk to Father Ash on the fourth tier," says a mercenary guard with pale blue skin and wearing the wreckage of a padded motorcycle outfit. "He runs things around here. If you're looking for gear, head to the yellow bus on the second tier. Talk to Manny. You'll want something to trade though, he doesn't do charity." Stepping through the gates, you see the whole of Rebar. Four tiers of highways span off from Rebar at different angles and different directions. The broken roads overlap over one another in a mixing bowl, but their center is empty. A huge sinkhole sits right in the center of the network of highways, nearly two hundred feet across and so deep no light touches its bottom. Soothing warmth seems to emanate from the sink hole heating the entire town while the rest of the world begins to freeze. A few rope bridges and ramp-ways built from corrugated metal connect the various highway ends. A shanty village seems to fill up one entire ten-lane highway. It's other half, on the other side of the sinkhole appears to now be growing some sort of strange blue glowing plant. On one of the higher broken roads, you see a series of cargo containers welded together into a single multilevel block. On the second level you see one road filled with wrecked cars and trucks stacked and used as tiny apartments. A school bus sits hanging over the edge of the road, held back by a series of steel cables. Rebar Points of Interest Father Ash's compound: A series of storage containers at the highest road overlooking the hole. Manny's Bus: Technically it's a bus and a pair of truck trailers. Manny trades in Omega Tech and has a deep suspicion of Father Ash s plots. The Wreck: The cheapest places to sleep. A bunch of cars and trucks smashed together and welded into a huge iron monstrosity. You climb into your cabin and sleep for the night. A pyrokenetic yeti Robert Redfur runs the place for Father Ash. The Farm: A few farmers tend to a crop of a strange thick glowing blue wheat. It can be boiled and shredded and its roots eaten for protein. It is surprisingly tasty but some say every bowl takes a day off of your life. Few seem to care. The Village: This is where most of the town's citizens live. It's a large shanty town of melted plastic and corrugated rusted plates tied and bolted together.
Father Ash Hot rain splashes down on you as you climb the shattered cement roadway leading to Father Ash's storage container. You smell faint ozone in the air as you step inside. Father Ash sits behind his polycarbonate desk in a large office chair repaired with twisted metal coat hangers. In the dim light, his dark blue skin seems to almost glow. "I am glad you have come, my friends. I fear the citizens of Rebar once again need your aid." He steeples his fingers together as he peers at you through his narrow glasses. "Some travelers of Rebar have gone missing as they traveled across the four nine five near the Pat Ow Mack. At first we thought it the Porkers or some other wanderer but even our hunting squads have gone missing. I would like you to investigate these attacks and find our missing travelers." "Take this," he says, handing you a large military radio. "I have the other here. Contact me when you have learned more." "Once again, our town is in your debt." DC 22 Insight: Father Ash is holding something back. He knows more than he speaks of. DC 10 Science: Father Ash's complexion is likely caused by living so close to the sink hole in the center of Rebar. It might also be a byproduct of his electrokenetic origin. DC 22 Interaction: Father Ash is willing to give you each a piece of Omegatech for the job with the promise of one more each on your return. Meeting Manny A humanoid in a long trench coat fumbles with strange high-tech equipment on a massive slab of plastic and aluminum. The interior of this hollowed out bus is cluttered with electronics, weapons, and ancient junk. When he turns around, you realize it is no trench coat at all but the long carapace of a huge cockroach. Look what the rats dragged in. Manny is Rebar s primary dealer in weapons and Omega Tech. With the body of a cockroach and telepathically linked to a swarm of intelligent rats, Manny is Rebar s eyes and ears. He had an innate distrust of Father Ash, who he believes will completely take over Rebar in the name of safety and security. Many has a simple philosophy for trading in Omega Tech. Give him two Omega Tech items and you may choose one item from three random ones. It keeps his stock of equipment and his profits high. Manny also deals in gold which he keeps buried in various caches around Rebar protected with deadly and high tech traps. DC 17 Insight: Are all of the rats staring at you? It would appear Manny has some sort of connection to them. DC 22 Interaction: For you, I ll throw in a free piece of ancient junk with your trade. The AI ROM Construct At the center of the kidnappings is a sentient AI construct built centuries ago to care for a zombie apocalypse safeboat. The AI has two conflicting orders: Keep the freighter running and never kill a human being. Since the Big Mistake, the nearly endless supply of zombies that once existed in the AI s world has disappeared. The only way to keep its two conflicting orders going is to kidnap humans, turn them into zombies, and then kill them. Father Ash suspects that an AI is at the center of the disappearances. He would very much like to get a hold of the AI s ROM construct. To what end only he knows. When the PCs have confirmed the robotic origin of the attacks, Father Ash implores them to secure the ROM construct and bring it back to him. Manny doesn t know why Father Ash wants the ROM construct but he is sure the good father will use it to tighten his grip on Rebar. Manny is willing to offer three pieces of Omegatech to the PCs if they give him the AI. The PCs have three other options as well. They may keep the ROM construct themselves, destroy it, or reprogram it to send the Dark Freighter after some other organic life form. All of these choices should be clear to the PCs when they defeat the Tugboat AI Construct in the final encounter.
Nighttime Assault Setup 2 Assault Stunners 1 Grabber for each PC above 2 When the PCs have settled, read: Brittle cold air of mid winter snaps at your skin as you travel across the cracked pavement of the eight lanes of the Four Nine Five. After a day's journey, as nighttime washes over the overgrown urban landscape, you see a large overturned semi with a red cab. A perfect place to camp. You start a fire in the crook of the cab and the trailer, cooking the carcasses of large insects and rodents. It is an hour into your rest when the first blast of a stun rifle sends electricity raking across the body of the trailer. Four figures step out of the darkness, with joints of screeching metal. Four of them, robots of some sort but models you have never seen before, step forward with stun-rods in their hands. Two others hang back aiming strange electrical rifles. Tactics Features of the Area The Semi: The semi tractor trailer provides superior cover to anyone hiding behind it. Though long empty, the fumes of the gas tanks can explode when attacked (All defenses 20). When hit, the gas tanks explode in a burst 2 for 1d10+7 fire damage. The robots assault from both sides of the trailer. Two grabbers will attempt to gang up on any human PC while the stunner attempts to stun them. When dropped below 0, humanoid PCs are dragged away. Any non-humanoid PC is left behind.
Robot Grabber Medium robotic animate HP 74; Bloodied 37 AC 18; Fort 18, Ref 16, Will 16 Speed 8 Immune disease, poison Aimed Stunner Level 5 Brute XP 200 Initiative +4 Perception +4 Low-light vision The robotʼs attack deals 5 extra damage to any enemy that has two or more of the robotʼs allies adjacent to it. (M) Steel Grip - At-Will Attack: Melee 1 (one creature) ); +10 vs AC Hit: 2d6 + 9 and the target is grabbed. Str 18 (+6) Dex 15 (+4) Wis 15 (+4) Con 14 (+4) Int 9 (+1) Cha 7 (0) Assault Robot Stunner Medium robotic animate HP 50; Bloodied 25 AC 19; Fort 17, Ref 18, Will 15 Speed 8 Immune disease, poison Aimed Stunner Lvl 5 Artillery XP 200 Initiative +4 Perception +11 Low-light vision The robotʼs attack deals 5 extra damage to any enemy that has two or more of the robotʼs allies adjacent to it. (M) Rifle Butt - At-Will Attack: Melee 1 (one creature) ); +10 vs AC Hit: 2d6 + 3 or 2d6 + 5 while the robot is bloodied. (R) Stunner - At-Will Attack: Ranged 30 (one creature); +10 vs Reflex. Hit: 1d10 + 8 damage Str 18 (+6) Dex 15 (+4) Wis 15 (+4) Con 14 (+4) Int 9 (+1) Cha 7 (0) Development If the PCs succeed in this battle, they may investigate the path the robots took to get here. The robots aren t particularly good at covering their tracks. A DC 12 perception, science, or nature check will reveal the tracks of the robots. If the PCs fail, the robots drag off any humanoids to the boat. Have any PCs dragged off re-roll new PCs who come across the wounded and unconscious bodies of any PCs left behind. PCs dragged off become the Fresh Zombie Ravagers on the first barge. Before they head out, their military radio buzzes at them. Over a crackling and hissing connection, Father Ash asks for details on the attack. Upon finding out they are robots, he hypothesizes that they are led by some sort of artificial intelligence. Each of these AIs has some sort of ROM construct that contains the AIs virtual life. Father Ash asks the party to track down the robots origin and return him the AI s ROM construct. When the PCs follow the path of the robots, read the following: Following the paths of the robots takes you to the shores of the Pat Ow Mack. A bloated white moon hangs in the sky, reflected in the black water of the river. A dark freighter is moored in the river, a few hundred yards out. You find the robot s craft, a patchwork of ancient history with a tiny solar powered electric motor that looks like it has been repaired hundreds of times. Taking the robots boat you approach the dark freighter. The steep inclined hull makes it impossible to approach from anywhere but the rear of the last barge. It is from there that you make your assault.
Barge One: Fuel Setup 10 Zombie Wanderers 1 Fresh Zombie Ravager per PC over three. 2 Hulking Zombie Porkers As the PCs step onto the barge read: The stench of death lies thick as you climb aboard the barge. You slip down into a deep box sunk below the surface of the water. Your feet sink into a thick black sludge. A mass of rot and refuse lies in front of you. Something within it stirs. As a hand reaches out you realize the true horror. It is no sludge heap but a mound of half-decaying corpses that reach for you with broken nails and snap with rotted jagged teeth. With horror you realize that underfoot are the decaying and decomposing bodies of hundreds of humanoid zombies, each with a perfect burnt hole in its head. As the pile of corpses begins to break into rising zombies, you see two huge monstrosities, once large porkers, in the rear. If any of the PCs were kidnapped in the first battle, they are found here in zombie form. Describe them as mindless horrors seeking the throats of their one-time friends. Tactics The zombies are mindless attackers. They swarm upon the closest living thing and attempt to devour it. The Hulking Zombie Porkers attempt to smash PCs over the heads of the zombies in front of them. Features of the Area Trapped Zombies: Zombies trapped below the refuse snap from underfoot. At the end of each non-zombie creature s turn, if that creature has not moved, it is attacked +8 vs AC; 5 damage. Decaying zombie pit: Due to the chamber filled with zombie goop, all terrain in the pit is considered difficult terrain. The Wall: The wall is specifically designed to prevent zombies from climbing it. A DC22 Athletics or Acrobatics check is required to climb over. The use of any climbing aid reduces this to DC15. Development With the zombies defeated, the PCs may climb up to the upper platform of the fuel barge. Pumps fill up barrels with crude oil from the decomposing bodies of the zombies below. Other barrels contain some sort of acid and lye to speed up the decomposition of the bodies. A retractable walkway leads to the next barge. It would appear the robots left it extended when they left to pick up the last batch of humans.
Zombie Wanderer Medium natural animate (undead) Level 5 Minion XP 50 HP 1; a missed attack never damages Initiative +1 a minion Perception +1 AC 17; Fort 18, Ref 15, Will 15 Darkvision Speed 4 Immune disease, poison (M) Slam - At-Will Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +10 vs AC Hit: 8 damage. Triggered Actions Deathless Hunger Trigger: The zombie is reducedd to 0 hit points, but not by a critical hit. Effect (No Action): Roll a d20. On a 15 or higher, the zombie is instead reduced to 1 hit point. Str 18 (+6) Dex 8 (+1) Wis 8 (+1) Con 15 (+4) Int 1 (-3) Cha 3 (-2) Hulking Zombie Porker Large natural animate (undead) HP 70; Bloodied 35 AC 16; Fort 18, Ref 14, Will 14 Speed 4 Immune disease, poison Zombie Weakness Level 4 Brute XP 175 Initiative +1 Perception +1 Darkvision A critical hit automatically reduces the zombie to 0 hit points. (M) Slam - At-Will Attack: Melee 2 (one creature) ); +9 vs AC Hit: 2d12+2 damage or 2d12+7 against a prone target or one that is grabbed by another creature. M Zombie Rush - At-Will Effect: The zombie charges and makes the following attack in place of a melee basic attack. Attack: Melee 2 (one creature) ); +7 vs Fortitude Hit: 2d12+2 damage, and the zombie pushes the target 1 square and knocks it prone. Triggered Actions Deathless Hunger Trigger: The zombie is reducedd to 0 hit points, but not by a critical hit. Effect (No Action): Roll a d20. On a 15 or higher, the zombie is instead reduced to 1 hit point. Str 20 (+7) Dex 8 (+1) Wis 8 (+1) Con 20 (+7) Int 1 (-3) Cha 3 (-2) Fresh Zombie Ravager Medium natural animate (undead) HP 55; Bloodied 27 AC 18; Fort 17, Ref 16, Will 14 Speed 6 (8 while charging) Immune disease, poison Flesh-Crazed Charge 4 Skirmisher XP 175 Initiative +6 Perception +3 Darkvision While the zombie is charging, its movement does not provoke opportunity attacks. Zombie Weakness A critical hit automatically reduces the zombie to 0 hit points. (M) Slam - At-Will Attack: Melee 1 (one creature) ); +9 vs AC Hit: 1d8 + 6 damage or 2d8 + 6 if the zombie charged the target. M Bite - At-Will Attack: Melee 1 (one creature) ); +9 vs AC Hit: 2d6 + 5 damage, and the target is dazed until the end of the zombieʼs next turn. Triggered Actions Deathless Hunger Trigger: The zombie is reducedd to 0 hit points, but not by a critical hit. Effect (No Action): Roll a d20. On a 15 or higher, the zombie is instead reduced to 1 hit point. Str 18 (+6) Dex 15 (+4) Wis 13 (+3) Con 15 (+4) Int 1 (-3) Cha 3 (-2)
Barge Two: Food Setup 1 Sentient Gelatin Cube 1 Sentient Refuse for each PC above 2 When the PCs cross over to the second barge, read: Broken glass litters the floor of this flat-bottomed barge. The ground is thick with centuries of rotted dead plant-life. The skeletal frame of a greenhouse hangs above. A small four-legged robot scuttles out and sprays water on a long dead planter full of rotten filth. Hello, fleshwalkers! A great day! Looking up at the gray sky and falling sleet, you see it is anything but. Perception DC 20: Something stirs under the filth. Perception DC 25: Something shimmers your vision, as though looking through warped glass. Nature DC 20: The patches of darker grass appear to be some form of barbed grab grass. Tactics The Sentient Refuse and Gelatin Cube wait for the PCs to either step into the cube s area or until the party attacks the cube. Features of the Area Overgrown Garden: The garden is so overgrown that it is considered difficult terrain for any creature without the plant origin. Thorned Grass: Anyone entering the dark patches of grass take 5 damage as barbed thorns rip into them. In addition, any creature who enters a patch of thorned grass must make a DC 25 acrobatics or athletics check of fall prone. The Hill: The hill can be climbed without difficulty from the bottom of the map. It is a 5 foot drop to the grass below. Climbing back up from the top of the map is much more difficult requiring a DC 22 athletics or acrobatics check.
Sentient Refuse Medium animated plant HP 47; Bloodied 23 AC 18; Fort 17, Ref 17, Will 14 Speed 4; climb 4 Immune blind, gaze; Resist 5 acid; Vulnerable 5 fire Ooze Level 4 Lurker XP 175 Initiative +9 Perception +2 Blindsight 10 While squeezing, the refuse moves at full speed rather than half speed, it doesnʼt take the -5 penalty to attack rolls and doesnʼt grant combat advantage for squeezing. (M) Slam - At-Will Attack: Melee 1 (one creature) ); +7 vs Reflex Hit: 5 acid damage and ongoing 5 acid damage (M) Engulf (acid) - At-Will Attack: Melee 1 (one creature) ); +7 vs Reflex Hit: 1d6 + 3 acid damage and the refuse grabs the target (escape DC 18). Until the grab ends, the target takes ongoing 10 acid damage. Attacks that hit the slime deal half damage to the refuse and half damage to a single creaturee grabbed by the refuse. Str 11 (+2) Dex 16 (+5) Wis 11 (+2) Con 17 (+5) Int 1 (-3) Cha 1 (-3) Sentient Gelatin Cube Large organic cube HP 156; Bloodiedd 78 AC 17; Fort 18, Ref 16, Will 15 Speed 3; climb 3 Immune blind, gaze; Resist 5 acid Ooze 5 Elite Brute XP 175 Initiative +4 Perception +3 Blindsight 5 While squeezing, the refuse moves at full speed rather than half speed, it doesnʼt take the -5 penalty to attack rolls and doesnʼt grant combat advantage for squeezing. Translucent The cube is invisible until seen (Perception DC 25) or until it attacks. A creature that fails to notice the cube might walk into it, automatically being hit by engulf. (M) Slam - At-Will Attack: Melee 1 (one creature) ); +7 vs Reflex Hit: 2d6+9 acid damage and the target is immobilized. (M) Engulf (acid) - At-Will Attack: Melee 1 (one or two creature); +8 vs Reflex. Hit: The cube grabs the target (escape DC 15) and pulls the target into its space. Until the grab ends, the target takes ongoing 10 acid damage and is dazed. When the cube moves, it pulls with it any creature grabbed by it, and the creature remains grabbed and within the cubeʼs space. This movement does not provoke an opportunity attack from the grabbed creature. Str 11 (+2) Dex 16 (+5) Wis 11 (+2) Con 17 (+5) Int 1 (-3) Cha 1 (-3)
Barge Three: Apartments Four cargo containers sit on huge steel poles. Solar panels cover the sides and back of the containers, living quarters apparently. It takes a DC 15 Athletics or Acrobatics check to climb up to the living quarters. Failure results in 1d10+7 falling damage. The four cargo containers are welded together into a series of rooms. Rotted and stained mattresses, plastic food containers, and the rotted pulp of pornographic magazines sit on the floor. The second container is filled with broken scrap and half-built robots. There is one piece of omega tech per PC and 2d4+2 pieces of ancient junk within this container. In one apparent bathroom, the hole overhanging the edge of the boat, you find a pile of bones, the black thick oil of broken down flesh and organs, and an ancient syringe. It would appear the original master of this tug grew bored of life on the Pa Tow Mack. An ancient plastic sheet contains the scorched scrawling of a laser-pen. On the wall rests a flattened shovel with razor-sharp edges and a spiked tip. The word Lobo is scrawled on the side. The Lobo can be used as a one hand or two hand heavy melee weapon. It performs critical hits against zombies on an 18, 19, or 20. In the fourth container you find the horrible heart of the dark freighter. From the shadows you hear a raspy hiss through ancient hole-filled lungs. A torso leans against the back wall in a pool of filth. It has its head and half of one arm and a mouth full of an earth-destroying plague. It s blind eyes twitch, looking for you, open mouth seeking the soft flesh of our mouth. You realize you stare at the catalyst for the zombies below, the carrier. How many times the robots fed fresh humans to it in order to infect them, you cannot know, but it would appear they did it thousands of times for at least two hundred years. The PCs can do what they will to the zombie disease carrier.
The Tugboat Setup Tugboat AI Construct When the PCs board the tugboat, read: The wreckage of the dark freighter s tugboat sit ahead. You hear the deep hammering of diesel engines driving the tug ever forward fueled on the decomposed bodies of thousands of humansturned-zombies. A vibration travels through the iron hull of the tug as a large metal sphere floats up from the rusted superstructure. As it turns towards you, you see a large painted grin through the frost of its rough metal body. Probes on twisting articulated tentacles writhe around the sphere. You have destroyed much of my master s creation, but that ends now. says a metalic voice from within the probe. You will be transformed like they all were and your body s flesh will continue to power our existence. The tips of the articulated tentacles blaze with white, red, violet, and blue lights as the AI construct attacks. Tactics When bloodied, the Tugboat AI Construct will attempt to shoot the exploding barrels with its fire probe. Features of the Area Oveboard: If pushed overboard, PCs take 1d8+6 radiation damage from the radioactive river. They can climb back aboard with a DC 20 athletics or acrobatics check. Exploding Barrels: The barrels on the deck of the ship are filled with reserve fuel from decomposed zombies. They can be shot or smashed (all defenses 25) and explode (burst 2; +18 vs Reflex; 1d10+7 fire damage and knock prone). When bloodied, the Tugboat AI The AI Construct cares little for the creatures that attack his craft. Creatures that cause him significant harm are pushed overboard with his Gravity Probe.
Tugboat AI Construct Large robotic animate HP 204; Bloodied 102 AC 17; Fort 16, Ref 18, Will 19 Speed 0; fly 6 Saving Throws +5; Action Points 2 All Around Vision 5 Solo Artillery XP 1000 Initiative +4 Percept +10 All-around vision Enemies canʼt gain combat advantage by flanking the construct. (M) Shock - At-Will Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +10 vs AC Hit: 2d4 + 5 R Probes - At-Will Effect: The construct uses two probe powers chosen from the list below. Each probe must target a different creature. Using probes does not provoke opportunity attacks. 1. Fire Probe: Ranged 8; +10 vs Reflex; 2d6+6 fire damage. 2. Radiation Probe: Ranged 8; +10 vs Fortitude; 1d8+4 radiation damage and the target is weakened (save ends). 3. Stun Probe: Ranged 8; +10 vs Fortitude; the target is slowed. First Failed Saving Throw: The target is knocked unconscious instead of slowed (save ends). 4. Gravity Probe: Ranged 8; +10 vs Fortitude; 1d8+4 damage and the construct slides the target up to 4 squares. Minor Actions (R) Central Probe - At-Will Attack: Ranged 5 (one creature); +10 vs Will Hit: The target is immobilized until the end of the constructʼs next turn. Triggered Actions R Random Probe - At-Will Trigger: The beholder is consciouss and an enemy starts its turn within 5 squares of it. Effect (No action) ): The construct uses one random probe against the triggering enemy. Str 12 (+3) Dex 15 (+4) Wis 16 (+5) Con 15 (+4) Int 18 (+6) Cha 20 (+7) Alignment Evil Languages cybernetics Aftermath Upon the destruction of the AI Construct, read the following: Curse this metal body. I have failed. The probe crashes to the hull s deck. Looking in its cracked armor you see the probe s internal workings. Within you see a cube of solid-state memory. The AI s ROM Construct. A choice remains in front of you - reprogram the AI construct, destroy it, keep it yourself, or return it to Father Ash in Rebar. Treasure Each party member finds one piece of omega tech. Returning to Rebar Upon returning to Rebar, the PCs have numerous choices ahead of them. They can return to Father Ash and reveal their ultimate choice to him. Father Ash is both smart and devious with twisted motivations that work both in favor of and against the PC s ultimate goals. It is likely that, whatever choice they made, they will work with Father Ash again, one way or another.