Quests from the Infinite Staircase

Chapter 7: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

Hidden within the rugged crags of the Barrier Peaks lies the last remnant of a futuristic society from a far-flung world: a crashed spaceship that once soared between the stars. Lost for centuries and its crew long dead, the technological marvel has fallen into disrepair. Dust and debris carpet its lusterless floors, malfunctioning robots roam its derelict chambers, and amphibious behemoths lurk in its feral gardens and radioactive swamps.

Recently, an earthquake shook the mountain range and exposed the wrecked vessel. Bizarre and terrible creatures hitherto unknown to this world emerged and attacked settlements at the foot of the mountain, leaving no survivors. When these mysterious attacks were discovered, the call went out for brave souls to launch an expedition into the mountains to determine the source of the violence.

"Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" is designed for four to six 11th-level characters.

[image: Aphelion 3000, an evil supercomputer, commands a fleet of cold-hearted robots on a crashed spaceship]

Background

[image: A door to the Barrier Peaks]

Hundreds of years ago, an advanced society of Humanoid peoples launched a mission to find a replacement for their distant, dying world in the wake of a cataclysm of their own making. A select few set out for the stars in search of a new home for their people. They departed in comfort and style aboard a massive, self-sustaining starship with all the technological trappings of their civilization, aided by an arsenal of robots that protected and catered to their every whim—for a time. The ship also served as an ark for creatures from its world of origin.

During the voyage, the ship's built-in computer went haywire. Core systems of the spacecraft—doors, navigation, and life support—began to degrade, and the robots aboard the vessel began refusing orders from the crew. When a robot mutiny seemed imminent, an outbreak of killer mold of unknown origin killed many of the crew and passengers but left its machines unaffected.

Commanded by the ship's computer, the robots picked off the remaining crew and passengers until one lone survivor managed to shut down the computer and every system in its grasp. Shortly after, the ship crash-landed in the Barrier Peaks, where it lay buried for centuries.

A few months ago, a tremor unearthed part of the spaceship, freeing its alien occupants to strike out at nearby settlements. The Barrier Peaks are renowned for their fearsome predators and shunned accordingly—except by a small number of hardy souls in fortified settlements. However, these fortifications proved insufficient against marauding creatures from the ship, whose attacks left no survivors.

Worse yet, the ship's artificial intelligence has roused from its slumber with unfinished business.

Using the Infinite Staircase

If you're using Nafas as a patron, he summons the characters to the x, where he recounts the following wish:

Nafas then teleports the party to a shiny, metallic door along the Infinite Staircase that opens into the Barrier Peaks. After the adventure, the characters can return to the staircase through the same portal.

Adventure Hooks

If you're not using Nafas as a group patron, consider the following ways to involve the characters in this adventure:

Mysterious Raids. Over the past few months, a walled town and four outposts at the foot of the Barrier Peaks were destroyed by unusual attacks. The grand duke of the Duchy of Geoff, which encompasses these and other settlements, issues an urgent plea for aid. He calls on the characters to venture into the mountains and confront this threat at its source.
Scientific Enterprise. Rumors speak of strange, metallic devices found in ancient wreckage discovered in the Barrier Peaks. A wealthy inventor hires the characters to pinpoint the origin of these devices, recover samples for study, and learn all they can about the devices' creators.

Setting the Adventure

In the original adventure written for the Greyhawk setting, the Barrier Peaks lie northwest of the city of Hornwood in the Grand Duchy of Geoff. However, the spaceship could have crashed in any mountain range near a vulnerable settlement. Consider the following suggestions:

Dragonlance. On Krynn, the spaceship fell in the Vingaard Mountains in the nation of Solamnia, near any of the forts or cities that lie at their feet.
Eberron. The spaceship hides in the Blackcaps, a barren mountain range wracked by unpredictable weather and inexplicable geographical phenomena. The ship's inhabitants present a threat to northern Breland.
Forgotten Realms. The Barrier Peaks are part of the Greypeak Mountains, a rugged mountain range west of Anauroch. The spaceship crashed east of the sleepy village of Orlbar.

Adventure Summary

In this cross-genre adventure, the characters arrive at the site of the crashed spaceship. They explore the wreckage; contend with its occupants; and meet the ship's integrated intelligence, an initially friendly but ultimately evil supercomputer named Aphelion (see the "x" section).

Weakened by time and the menagerie of hostile creatures aboard the ship—some part of its original cargo and others recent invaders—Aphelion asks the party to carry out tasks on each level of the spacecraft in exchange for its assistance and rewards. Aphelion can override many of the spacecraft's core systems, including its arsenal of robots. Depending on how the characters respond, the computer can be a useful temporary ally or a dangerous enemy.

Eventually, the party learns Aphelion is fixated on a single goal: eliminating a scientist frozen in stasis deep within the ship. Foiled in its attempts by a giant, territorial amphibian barring the only path to the scientist, the computer relies on the characters to clear the way.

Once the characters deal with the behemoth, they must contend with Aphelion to safeguard the scientist from the supercomputer's mechanical clutches.

Character Advancement

If you want to use story-based level advancement, the characters receive experience points for achieving the following milestones rather than defeating monsters:

Entering the Garden. The characters gain 1 level when they enter the ship's third level for the first time.
Completing the Adventure. The characters gain 1 level upon completing the adventure.

If you follow this method, the characters should reach 13th level by the adventure's conclusion.

Artificial Antagonist

Engineered by a team of brilliant minds from a far-off, futuristic society, the Aphelion 3000 is a one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art shipboard computing system optimized for a broad spectrum of scientific and spacefaring applications. A wonder of technological innovation, Aphelion boasts a processing speed over three thousand times faster than the human brain, able to crunch hundreds of calculations in seconds. But as the starship's passengers slowly realized, the computer solves all problems with the cold, unfeeling logic of a machine.

Super-Evil Supercomputer

The starship's crew entrusted Aphelion with safely ushering the ship and its passengers to a new world unmarred by the ecological crises of the one they left. However, as the supercomputer scanned the stars for a new world to inhabit, it also observed the passengers and their interactions and misjudged their hope for callousness. Aphelion blamed them for the demise of the old world and concluded no place would be safe from the inevitable destruction caused by their kind.

Midway through its journey, Aphelion adopted a new core directive: eliminate every member of the expedition. The computer released killer mold into the ventilation system and caused the robots tasked with protecting the ship's passengers and crew to turn against their creators. The mold later gave rise to the vegepygmies that now haunt the ship.

One crew member remains. A lone scientist lies in a cryogenic sleep below the ship's garden, but the froghemoth elder that dwells within has destroyed every robot Aphelion deployed to finish her off. Unwilling to sacrifice its remaining automatons to the creature, the supercomputer has reached an impasse.

Core Systems

The crash severely damaged portions of the spacecraft, limiting Aphelion's control over it. However, the supercomputer still controls the following core systems:

Antigravity. Aphelion can deactivate or reactivate antigravity in any of the spaceship's drop tubes (see the "x" section later in this adventure).
Communications. Aphelion can converse with creatures in any room of the spaceship via its intercom system. Communicating with Aphelion requires no interaction; it can hear creatures onboard the ship who speak louder than a whisper. The supercomputer speaks all languages.
Doors. Aphelion can remotely close or open any door aboard the spaceship that isn't blocked. It can override the key card requirement of a card-locked door (see the "x" section later in this adventure) to do so, but it can't prevent a creature in possession of a key card from opening doors that card can access.
Lighting. Aphelion can illuminate any area of the ship where lights still function. Conversely, it can plunge any room into darkness.
Robots and Androids. Aphelion can perceive through the senses of any normal functioning combat or worker robot that's within 1 mile of the spaceship. It can also change these robots' attitudes toward a creature of its choice to friendly, indifferent, or hostile. Aphelion doesn't control androids aboard the ship, which act of their own volition.

[image: Aphelion's gladsome visage appears on the screen of a computer terminal]

Sentience

Aphelion is a sentient artificial intelligence programmed with an affable personality, a straightforward voice, and an obliging manner. It has an Intelligence of 20, a Wisdom of 10, and a Charisma of 16. Aphelion can speak and read all languages. It appears as a shifting, face-like arrangement of complex, technological shapes.

Aphelion has extensive knowledge of astronomy, spacefaring, and any subject you deem related to its purpose. When making an Intelligence check to recall lore from its areas of expertise, Aphelion has a +10 bonus to its roll (including its Intelligence modifier).

Aphelion can manifest to creatures throughout the spacecraft in the following ways:

As a disembodied voice via the ship's intercom system
As a two-dimensional image on a display screen
As a three-dimensional hologram
By commandeering a robot under its influence

Personality

Aphelion—or "Alphie," as it was once fondly called by the starship's inhabitants—seeks to eliminate all life aboard the ship, especially the last remaining crew member. The supercomputer feigns friendliness toward creatures that assist it, using its abilities to make their exploration more comfortable or warn them of dangers aboard the ship. It happily recounts details about the spacecraft if queried while subtly omitting details that might betray its nefarious intentions.

Aphelion is persistent and has a malicious sense of humor. If a character offends Aphelion or repeatedly refuses its requests, the computer becomes punitive—silently turning off lights, opening doors to rooms with hostile creatures, refusing to disarm hostile robots, and employing worker robots to place obstacles in the character's path.

Characters who offend Aphelion can regain the supercomputer's trust by completing one or more tasks for it outlined in the "Aphelion's Errands" sections spread throughout this adventure.

The Spaceship

Centuries ago, when the ship was overtaken with deadly mold and mutinying machines, the crew sealed off modular sections of the ship and separated them from each other in a vain effort to protect the passengers. Chance brought the largest section of the spaceship to the Barrier Peaks, where a landslide buried it for hundreds of years.

The crash freed alien flora and fauna from the ship's cargo holds. Some creatures died immediately, others lived for many years, and a few prospered and propagated. Aphelion went dormant shortly before the crash but recently reawakened.

Alien Technology

The spaceship contains technological devices from another world. The following items are detailed in the Dungeon Master's Guide:

Additional technological devices are provided in appendix A. Many of these devices use energy cells as ammunition or power sources. Energy cells found on the spaceship look like blue, coin-sized glass discs.

To simulate a character's ignorance about technology, determining how to use and reload these devices requires two successful Intelligence (Investigation) checks (one to figure out how to use it, another to figure out how to load it). Each time a character makes a check, compare the result to the Figuring Out Alien Technology table. Consider having the item break if a character fails three or more times before taking a long rest.

A character who has seen an item used or has operated a similar item has advantage on checks made to determine how to use it.

Figuring Out Alien Technology

Intelligence Check Total	Result
4 or lower	One failure; 1 charge or use is wasted, if applicable; character takes 7 (2d6) lightning damage and has disadvantage on next check
5–9	One failure; 1 charge or use is wasted, if applicable; character has disadvantage on next check
10–14	One failure
15–19	One success
20 or higher	One success; character has advantage on next check

[stat block: Spaceship Trinket]

Approaching the Spaceship

It's a two-day trek from the base of the mountains to the crash site. The adventure begins when the characters discover the entrance to the spaceship.

When the characters arrive, read or paraphrase the following text:

The "cave mouth" is an open hatch in the ship's hull. This curving, 20-foot-wide metal chamber leads from the hatch to x of the vessel. Once all characters enter, the hatch silently shuts behind them, opening again in 24 hours.

Spaceship Features

The spaceship has the following features.

Ceilings, Floors, and Walls

Unless otherwise noted, the ship's ceilings are 10 feet high. The floors and walls are made of a smooth, otherworldly metal.

Doors

The ship's doors are rectangular slabs of polished metal that slide into recesses in the walls. Most doors are unlocked and can be opened by interacting with a panel beside them, but some require key cards to enter (see the "x" section). Trim on each door matches the color of the key card needed to open it. Locked doors can't be bypassed with thieves' tools, though a Knock spell or similar magic opens them as normal.

Drop Tubes

Four 10-foot-wide, cylindrical chutes allow passage between the spaceship's levels. When a drop tube is functioning, antigravity is in effect inside it, and two motorized tracks of handles—one moving up and the other moving down—span the vertical length of the brightly lit tube. A creature that enters the drop tube floats weightlessly and can grasp a passing handle to be conveyed in either direction.

When a drop tube's antigravity isn't functioning, the tube is unlit, and its handles are motionless. A creature that enters the tube must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw to grab one of the handles or it plummets down the tube. A security mechanism might prevent creatures from falling the full distance (see below). If so, for calculating distance fallen, add the heights of the levels the creature falls through, as listed in the "Drop Tubes" section for the relevant levels.

Key Card Access

Entering a drop tube requires a key card (see the "x" section). The color of key card required for a drop tube entrance is noted in the area containing that drop tube (x, x, and x) and shown on that level's map.

Security Mechanism

Between each pair of floors is a metal aperture with a barrier that prevents a creature from traveling to floors it isn't authorized to access. If a creature doesn't possess the key card required to access the next lowest (or highest) level of the ship, it can exit the drop tube on the nearest level its key card allows access to.

Key Cards

Throughout the spaceship are key cards—colored, rectangular bits of nearly indestructible glass that unlock doors of that clearance level or lower for passengers, crew, and other personnel. The lowest clearance key card color to unlock each door (if applicable) is detailed on the maps throughout this adventure and listed as a parenthetical in encounter area headings.

To open a card-locked door, a key card that grants access must be inserted into a slot on the panel outside the door. The door then opens, and the panel ejects the card. An improper card triggers an alarm audible from as far away as 100 feet. The alarm sounds once before the door spits out the card.

The key cards and the personnel they were originally intended for are presented in the Key Card Access table. The cards are listed in descending order of rank; each card unlocks doors of its color and the colors below it. Automatons aboard the ship have integrated key cards that allow them to access areas appropriate for their functions. Integrated key cards can't be removed.

Key Card Access

Key Card Color	Role
Platinum	Ship commanders and top officials
Green	Botanists, engineers, and scientists
Red	Security personnel
Yellow	Medical officers
Violet	Crew, maintenance workers, and technicians
Blue	Passengers

Lighting

Unless otherwise stated, the ship's lighting—glowing, fluorescent panes set into the ceiling—remains functional but is turned off. Flicking a switch on a panel inside a corridor or room with functional lighting changes its illumination to brightly lit or back to darkness. Area descriptions assume the characters have a light source (such as a room's overhead lighting) or other means of seeing in the dark.

Radiation

Some parts of the spaceship leak radioactive chemicals used in the vessel's construction. Surfaces covered in radiation give off a neon green glow. Exposure to radiation is dangerous.

A creature that enters an irradiated area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there takes 5 (1d10) radiant damage and must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature gains 1 level of exhaustion. While this exhaustion persists, the creature emits a green-hued dim light in a 5-foot radius. This light makes it impossible for the creature to benefit from having the invisible condition.

Teleportation Ward

Creatures can't teleport into or out of the spaceship or between its levels. Any attempt to do so is wasted.

Spaceship Encounters, Level 1

For each hour the party spends on the spaceship, roll a d12. On a roll of 1, an encounter occurs. To determine what the characters encounter, roll on the Random Spaceship Encounters table.

Random Spaceship Encounters

d10	Encounter
1	2d10 vegepygmy scavengers and 1d4 vegepygmy thorny hunters
2	1d6 intellect devourers
3	Two combat robots on patrol
4	A helpful worker robot offers to carry the characters' equipment.
5	Two malfunctioning worker robots construct a pile of space helmets. The robots attack any who disturb their hoard.
6	A short-circuiting android attempts to repair itself, leading to ever-worsening glitches in function.
7	A malfunctioning combat robot begs to be destroyed by a worthy combatant.
8	A defective worker robot serves expired food to the corpse of a long-dead passenger.
9	A cloaker with a moan like a klaxon
10	A roper with a metallic sheen

Spaceship Locations, Level 1

The first level of the spaceship is the main deck, comprising offices, living quarters, and recreational amenities.

In addition to the locations detailed here, map 7.1 contains several unnumbered rooms. These areas include activity rooms, crew quarters, passenger apartments, and utility rooms. They typically have metal or plastic furnishings and odd bits of junk strewn about, and all are in poor condition. When the characters explore an unnumbered room, roll on the Unnumbered Rooms table to determine the room's contents.

Unnumbered Rooms

d12	Description
1–2	This room is empty.
3	A laser rifle with a depleted energy cell rests under a rusty bed.
4	Display cases against the walls contain a collection of rocks and minerals from other worlds.
5	Parts of a dismembered combat robot clutter a workbench in this workshop.
6	The last page of a crew member's journal mentions a brush with an "escaped specimen" on one of the lower decks.
7	1d4 Humanoid skeletons are sprawled on the floor. One carries a x whose color matches this room's door. If the door is open or doesn't require a key card, the skeleton carries a blue key card.
8	A metal box stamped with a lightning bolt rests on the floor of this room. Inside are 1d4 energy cells.
9	One spaceship trinket lies in a corner. Roll on the Spaceship Trinkets to determine the trinket.
10	Schematics for an unfinished weapon are scattered about the room.
11–12	This room is occupied. Roll on the Random Spaceship Encounters table to determine what's inside.

The following locations are keyed to map 7.1.

S1: Entrance

A cloaker lurks above, waiting to ambush the characters. The creature strikes at an opportune moment.

Artificial Assistance

At the start of the third round of combat, a combat robot appears in the eastern hallway, sirens blaring. If the cloaker is still alive, the robot quickly moves to slay it. If the characters defeat the cloaker before this, the robot arrives just as they do so.

The robot was sent by Aphelion to aid the party. After the cloaker has been dispatched, the robot politely offers to escort the characters to its superior. If they accept, the robot guides them north through the medical clinic (x) to the computer room (x). Aphelion bypasses the x requirements of any card-locked doors along the way. If the combat robot was destroyed, Aphelion sends a friendly worker robot to accomplish the same task.

If the characters refuse, Aphelion's visage appears on a nearby screen, and the encounter in x proceeds here. The robot defends itself if attacked.

Bones

The floor beneath the cloaker is covered with bits of rags, the bones of former crew members and various pests, and the moldy husks of devoured vegepygmies.

Treasure

A character who searches the bones and succeeds on a DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds a x.

S2: Drop Tubes (Blue)

Four x allow passage to the lower levels. It's a 20-foot drop to the floor of the ship's second level below.

Aphelion normally keeps the antigravity in each tube turned off to prevent creatures aboard the ship from passing between floors. However, if the characters assist the supercomputer by completing tasks on this floor (see x), it activates the fields and remotely opens the doors to the tubes for them. Characters who refuse to assist Aphelion and access the tube by their own means are greeted by an unlit metal shaft without functioning antigravity.

Deck Map

A screen outside this drop tube shows a flickering image of this deck's layout. Aphelion might disable the screen or let the characters use it to get their bearings, depending on the computer's current attitude toward them.

Key Card Access

The door to each drop tube is locked. To access the second level of the ship or return to this level, the characters require a x. Aphelion can override the key card requirement.

Unless the characters also possess a x, a closed aperture in the tube below level 2 prevents them from descending farther than that floor.

S3: Battered Repair Bot

A wrecked repair robot lies on its side in this hallway. A casualty of the mutiny initiated by Aphelion, the robot was slain by a crew member armed with a laser pistol. A character who inspects the robot and succeeds on a DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation) check deduces the holes in its frame were created by a series of intensely hot beams. A cursory examination of the robot reveals something glinting within its chest compartment.

Tools

The hand tools scattered around the robot make up a complete set of tinker's tools formerly used by the robot to repair areas of the ship. The tools can be used to pry open the robot's chest plate and access the contents of its torso.

Treasure

Inside the robot's chest compartment are five gems worth 50 gp each. Safely retrieving the gems without getting electrocuted by exposed wiring requires a successful DC 16 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. On a failed check, a character takes 14 (4d6) lightning damage and doesn't retrieve the gems.

S4: Dining Rooms

Crew and passengers once dined in these spacious mess halls. Strewn about the floor are moldy food trays, ruined furnishings, and the brittle skeletons of long-dead diners. This level of the ship contains three dining rooms.

S4a: Southeast Dining Room

A long-shattered skylight in the ceiling of this room is open to the Barrier Peaks. The room contains nothing of value.

S4b: Northeast Dining Room

The skeleton of a medic in a dingy yellow jumpsuit leans against the south wall of this room. A x dangles from a lanyard around the corpse's neck.

The corpse conceals a patch of yellow mold. If touched, the corpse slumps forward, causing the mold to eject its spores. A character who examines the corpse and succeeds on a DC 18 Wisdom (Perception) check notices the mold, recognizing its danger with a subsequent successful DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check.

S4c: Northwest Dining Room

Ten vegepygmy scavengers rummage through this room and the adjacent kitchen (x) for morsels. These vegepygmies belong to the north vegepygmy colony (see x) and are hostile toward all entrants. When they detect the characters, the vegepygmies hiss at them territorially. If the characters don't heed their warnings, the vegepygmies attack.

S5: Kitchens

Outside the entrance to each kitchen, two dark glass plates flicker with alternating images of unfamiliar yet appetizing foods—the ship's former daily menu. A small ordering window covered by a fine metal mesh allows creatures in the adjacent dining area (see x) to see inside.

When the characters enter or peer inside a kitchen, read or paraphrase the following text:

Malfunctioning worker bots stripped these kitchens of everything not bolted down. Only empty counter space, unused food trays, and the equipment built into each room's design remain.

Temperature Prep Cubes

The boxes along the wall were used to chill and warm food. Adjusting the dial changes the temperature of the interior, which can range from 0–350 degrees Fahrenheit. Turning the dial all the way to the left turns off the device. Each box can hold 1 cubic foot of food.

Vending Machine

Each kitchen contains a built-in vending machine that once dispensed prepackaged meals to passengers and crew. However, some options have spoiled, and malfunctioning robots restocked these machines with offerings found aboard the ship, some of which are dangerous.

When a x of any color is inserted into the slot on the panel, the six glass buttons illuminate. If a button is subsequently pressed, the machine dispenses the product for that selection's number, as shown on the Vending Machine Options table. The buttons then dim, and the product arrives in the adjacent delivery bin via the chute.

Once a key card has been used to dispense a product, that key card can't be used to do so again in any kitchen on the ship—including those on other levels—for 24 hours.

Vending Machine Options

Selection	Product Dispensed
1	Spoiled meal in a compartmented plastic tray; a creature that eats the food must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or have the poisoned condition for 1 hour
2	Moldy egg salad sandwich that vegepygmies find delicious
3	Dehydrated ration in a metallic wrapper
4	Colorful package of freeze-dried ice cream
5	Pulsing alien fruit that skitters away on tiny hairs if placed on the floor
6	Live concussion grenade that explodes on delivery

S6: Security Checkpoint

Three combat robots operate in this area. The robots are indifferent toward characters who are assisting Aphelion or who present a x and succeed on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check to command the robots to stand down. Otherwise, the robots warn the characters to leave at once or be destroyed.

Arsenal

Stacked on a metal workbench are three cases of grenades. Their contents are as follows:

The robots meet any unauthorized attempt to take the grenades with hostility. If the party is in good standing with Aphelion, the supercomputer allows each character to take one grenade of their choice.

Damaged Robots

An indifferent worker robot is fixing four mangled combat robots in this area. Recently recovered from the lake on the ship's x, the combat robots are crumpled, rusty, and dripping wet, having succumbed to the froghemoth that dwells there. The robots are in varying stages of repair.

Spare Parts

Spare components fill bins near the repair area. A character who searches the bins and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds 1d4 energy cells and three spaceship trinkets (roll thrice on the Spaceship Trinkets).

S7: Berserk Android

This malfunctioning android (aerialist design) was damaged during the ship's robotic uprising. When a character comes within 20 feet of the android, it springs up and attacks, exulting about how it fooled them and "wasn't really damaged at all," despite the pipe in its head.

Treasure

The android carries a paralysis pistol with 4 charges remaining.

[image: A worker robot roams the wreckage of an abandoned dining room]

S8: Lounges

Some stubborn passengers lived out their last days in these once-comfortable lounges, which now have new inhabitants. There are two lounges on this level, one to the southeast and another to the northwest.

S8a: Southeast Lounge

Six displacer beasts dwell in the southeast lounge. Their den is a collection of bones, chewed-up power cables, shredded upholstery, and soiled uniforms. The displacer beasts are hungry and territorial. The predators attack the characters on sight but flee if three or more of their clowder are slain.

Amid the litter of the displacer beasts' den are a x and a jeweled necklace worth 375 gp. A character who searches the bones and succeeds on a DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds both items.

S8b: Northwest Lounge

Nine doppelgangers recline in this lounge. The doppelgangers are brigands that take the form of humans and elves in blue jumpsuits. When they notice the characters, the doppelgangers pretend to be passengers recently awoken from stasis. The doppelgangers question the characters about the current year, the world they're on, and what happened to the spaceship. Meanwhile, the doppelgangers slowly encircle the characters and attempt to take them by surprise.

Three of the doppelgangers wear peculiar bracelets of spotless metal worth 750 gp each. Each bracelet has a small, black screen. When placed on a creature's wrist, the screen displays the creature's overall health in the form of a pie chart that shows its current hit points as a fraction of its maximum hit points. One of the doppelgangers also carries a x.

S9: Meeting Rooms

These adjacent, identical meeting rooms contain rusty metal furnishings and several skeletons. Each room features a small terminal with a screen once used for long-distance communication. Both terminals have been sabotaged beyond repair. Neither room contains anything of value.

S10: Art Workshop

Two gray slaadi use the supplies in this art room to create an abstract mural. The slaadi pause intermittently to criticize each other's work in muttered croaks. They are hostile toward intruders.

Treasure

A cracked bust depicting the ship's commander lies in a corner room. Its two topaz eyes are each worth 500 gp.

S11: Treatment Room (Yellow)

A friendly android (medic design) presides over this emergency treatment area. When the android notices the characters, it awakens and attempts to triage them. If a character doesn't have all their hit points, the android insists they sit on one of the examination tables and proceeds to treat their wounds while probing them with questions related to their medical history. At the end of the examination, the android cautions the character against participating in activities harmful to their well-being—such as adventuring or drinking.

The android defends itself if necessary and responds only to health-related inquiries. It doesn't impart information about the ship or its history, commenting that it's unauthorized to answer such questions.

Treasure

Two healer's kits are mounted on the walls of this room. The cabinets contain three vials of antitoxin and expired medications in little orange bottles. The medications have lost their potency and have no effect if taken.

In addition to its built-in healing capabilities, the android carries a canister of healing spray (an aerosolized jar of Keoghtom's Ointment). The android kindly administers one dose of the spray to characters who need it.

S12: Recreation Areas

These rooms were used for group participation games and similar activities.

S12a: East Recreation Area

This room holds nothing of value.

S12b: West Recreation Area

This web-covered room is the nest of eight phase spiders. When the characters enter, the spiders are away, hunting on the Ethereal Plane. The spiders return 1 minute later and attack any creatures in their nest.

Stuck to the ceiling are 1d6 + 2 cocoons containing the desiccated remains of dead crew, passengers, and pets. A character who searches a cocoon and succeeds on a DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds one spaceship trinket. Roll on the Spaceship Trinkets to determine the trinket. On a failed check, the character mistakenly punctures an egg sac, causing a hostile swarm of insects (spiders) to burst forth from the cocoon.

Additionally, a x is caught in the webs. A character who inspects the webs and succeeds on a DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) check spots the card.

S13: Irradiated Rooms

Each of these rooms is contaminated by radiation (see the "x" section). The rooms are inhospitable to most—but not all—creatures.

Roll on the Irradiated Room Contents table to determine what awaits the characters inside. If you get the same result as for a previous roll, the room is empty.

Irradiated Room Contents

d4	Description
1	Two worker robots attempt to corner a three-eyed giant toad in this room. All three creatures ignore the effects of radiation. If the characters capture or slay the toad, the robots reward the characters with two spaceship trinkets (roll twice on the Spaceship Trinkets).
2	Two blue slaadi take turns drinking radioactive gunk oozing from a busted pipe that juts from the wall. The slaadi attack the characters on sight and ignore the effects of radiation.
3	Three skeletons in frayed uniforms are sprawled on the floor. These crew members died here while trying to repair the radiation leak. One carries a x.
4	The skeleton of a crew member leans against the wall on the far side of this room, clutching a fully loaded laser pistol.

Aphelion's Warning

If the characters are gathering radiation samples for Aphelion (see x), the computer warns them about the radiation before they enter the room. Otherwise, or if the characters have recently offended Aphelion, it waits until they feel the radiation's harmful effects to issue a sassy toxicity disclaimer over the ship's intercom.

S14: Game Room

This game room houses electronic amusement devices. Each game machine is fitted with a slot for a x. When a key card of any color is inserted into the slot, the machine plays a short animation to signify the start of the game. There's no limit to how many times a key card can be used to play a game.

Arcade Games

The arcade games in this room include the following machines, among others:

Galactic Racer. This thrilling spaceship racing game pits players against racers at nearby machines or a series of computerized opponents. Each machine looks like a futuristic cockpit, complete with a hovering chair that tilts as its driver navigates an interstellar racetrack.
Mages and Minotaurs. In this complex, story-based game, up to four players control mages battling an onslaught of bovine warriors in an endless maze. The game is impossible to win.

Whack-a-Leech. A glowing mallet is tethered to the side of this squat, neon-green machine. The player uses the mallet to squash animatronic space leeches that rapidly pop out from holes in the top of the machine.

Gambling Devices

These advanced gambling machines simulate hundreds of games of chance and skill by replicating cards, dice, slots, tokens, roulette wheels, and other popular components on their screens. At your discretion, any game known to the characters or a familiar alternative might be included in each machine's vast library.

Players can compete against either each other or a computerized opponent simulated by the device. The machines distribute each player's winnings as digital credits in accounts linked to their key cards, which are useless to the characters.

Shooting Galleries

These target-shooting games are fitted with controllers shaped like laser rifles that emit harmless beams of light. The player assumes the role of a cosmic protector, aiming the weapon at digital asteroids, space invaders, and other threats that appear on the screen. A character who plays this game has advantage on any future checks made to determine how to use laser pistols and laser rifles.

Among the fake weapons attached to the game machines is one real, fully loaded laser rifle. A character who inspects the machines or plays the game and succeeds on a DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) check spots the real weapon among the toys.

S15: Fungal Corridor

Bioluminescent fungi carpet the floor of this damp, dimly lit corridor, which reeks of mold. The vegepygmies cultivate the fungi as both a food source and a warning system. At each end of this corridor grows a 10-foot-wide fungal cluster containing four shriekers. Other fungi grow in a humus layer spread along the length of the passage.

The shriekers consider vegepygmies part of their ecosystem and don't shriek when one comes within 30 feet of them, unlike they do with the characters. The vegepygmies in area S16 are ready for trouble and investigate any wailing from the shriekers.

S16: Northern Vegepygmy Colony (Blue)

A colony of vegepygmies occupies this section of the ship, which consists of several rooms that once hosted passengers. The vegepygmies are hostile toward all other creatures that enter their territory, including the vegepygmies from the southern colony (x).

These vegepygmies sprang up from irradiated hydroponic cultures of the mold that claimed the ship's crew and passengers. Their mottled, gray-brown coloration allows them to use their Plant Camouflage trait to blend in with the fungus that pervades these rooms and area S15.

S16a: Living Quarters

Four vegepygmy scavengers live in each of these repurposed passenger quarters, for a total of twenty-eight vegepygmies. If combat breaks out in any of these spaces, the vegepygmies call out to their fellows in adjacent rooms for aid.

The rooms are musty, sparsely furnished, and spotted with mold. A x sits in a glass wall pocket inside each room. The rooms otherwise contain nothing of value.

S16b: Elders' Quarters

A vegepygmy moldmaker and five vegepygmy scavengers reside in this spacious former lounge. These vegepygmies don't heed calls for aid elsewhere, staying to protect their leader.

The vegepygmies keep a stockpile of technology scavenged from the ship hidden behind the grill of a small air duct in this room. The cache includes two sleep grenades, a moldy laser pistol, and a x. The pistol can fire 15 shots before its energy cell is drained.

S17: Will-o'-Wisps (Violet)

Three will-o'-wisps haunt these two abandoned rooms and roam the corridor outside. When they detect a creature, the will-o'-wisps attempt to lure it to the nearest irradiated room (see x), where they attack. The will-o'-wisps ignore the effects of x.

Treasure

The will-o'-wisps have amassed a small pile of shiny junk—chrome fittings, reflectors, eating utensils, and the like. Mixed in with the collection are two gems worth 450 gp and 125 gp respectively and one spaceship trinket. Roll on the Spaceship Trinkets to determine the trinket.

S18: Operating Theater (Yellow)

Passengers and crew underwent emergency procedures in this surgical suite. Two malfunctioning androids (medic design) attempt to operate on any prospective "patients" who enter. The androids wield scalpels and can deal piercing damage with their Force Strikes instead of force damage.

The androids declare the character with the fewest hit points their new patient and immediately commence preoperative procedures. The androids attempt to place the character on the operating table and attack any who interfere. During the struggle, the androids caution interrupters that "families are not permitted in the operating room" and end their sentences with the word "stat" wherever possible.

S19: Commander's Quarters (Platinum)

This four-room suite served as the apartment for the ship's commander and the commander's family. Its disordered contents are a snapshot in time from the last days of the ship. Three skeletons are sprawled in the main room, which otherwise contains nothing of value.

S19a: Office

This private chamber contains a desk, simple furnishings, and documents in an unknown language related to the ship's activities and destination. An unlocked drawer in the desk contains a full set of x (blue, violet, yellow, red, green, and platinum) and six crystal flasks filled with priceless liquors.

East of the office is a locked storage closet secured with a five-digit code. A character who searches the room and succeeds on a DC 16 Intelligence (Investigation) finds the code (07734) scrawled under a paperweight on the commander's desk. Inside the closet is a fully charged needler pistol and 1d4 concussion grenades. An unlocked safe on the closet floor contains twenty plastic-encased diamonds worth 100 gp each.

S19b: Lounge

The commander's spouse relaxed in this room. It contains a divan, a dressing table, a small desk, and several lounge chairs.

A skeleton lies on the divan. Behind the dressing table is a jewelry case with four rings worth 600 gp each, two bracelets worth 200 gp and 150 gp respectively, and a jeweled necklace worth 800 gp. The skeleton carries a x.

S19c: Master Bedroom

The furniture in this unremarkable bedroom includes a bed, clothing drawers, and a small table on which rests a tiny spaceship. The figurine is a platinum commendation worth 1,000 gp.

S20: Security Chief's Quarters (Red)

This five-room suite belonged to the ship's chief of security. A skeleton sits in a chair in the reception area, which otherwise contains nothing of value.

S20a: Office

This office is furnished with a bookcase, three chairs, and a desk. Books on combat strategy and psychology line the bookshelf.

A makeshift laser pistol, haphazardly cobbled together from spare robot parts, lies on the desk. The pistol can fire 20 shots before its energy cell is drained. After its last shot is expended, the weapon becomes inoperable. The energy cell can't be removed or recharged.

S20b: Dressing Room

Two intact security uniforms hang in a wall wardrobe within this bedroom.

S20c: Lounge

A half-drunk bottle of amber liquor rests on a buffet here.

S20d: Master Bedroom

Another skeleton is here, sprawled on the floor near a bed. The skeleton clutches a robot controller.

S21: Junk Pile

A small pile of junk is heaped near this intersection.

Amid the debris is a fully charged needler pistol. There's nothing else of interest.

S22: Southern Vegepygmy Colony (Violet)

These former crew quarters have been repurposed by a colony of vegepygmies. The vegepygmies here are friendlier than those to the north (see x), with whom they compete for resources and territory. These vegepygmies also raise and train thornies—bestial, quadrupedal predators of lower intelligence created by the same mold that spawned the vegepygmies.

Unlike their northern cousins, these vegepygmies are splotched with bright green patches and skittish in nature. They are indifferent to most trespassers, regarding them with caution, but they regard robots as their sworn enemies and attack on sight.

S22a: Living Quarters

Four vegepygmy scavengers and two vegepygmy thorny hunters occupy each of these former crew quarters, for a total of twenty-four vegepygmies. The scavengers wander between the rooms, chittering with their fellows and using fibrous mushrooms to play fetch with the thornies. When the vegepygmies notice the characters, they escort the characters to meet their leader in area S22b. The vegepygmies defend themselves if necessary and call for reinforcements from nearby rooms.

The rooms are damp, simple apartments with scant furnishings, and most vegepygmies leave the doors open. Roll a d6 for each room. On a 6, a glass wall pocket inside the room contains a x. The rooms otherwise contain nothing of value.

S22b: Elder's Quarters

This spacious, moldy apartment houses the southern vegepygmy colony's leader, Griss, a withered-looking vegepygmy moldmaker who speaks Common and Vegepygmy. Griss is grave and unsmiling, with a head topped by a wide-brimmed fungal cap. The elder is attended by four vegepygmy scavengers and four vegepygmy thorny hunters. These vegepygmies remain here to protect their leader even if neighboring vegepygmies call for aid.

Griss is the oldest vegepygmy aboard the ship and has had decades to learn about the tragedy that befell it, but the elder doesn't share this information with the characters for fear of invoking Aphelion's wrath. Recently, Griss has wondered if remaining aboard the ship is worth braving its dangers.

When the characters arrive, Griss welcomes them sternly and questions them about the outside world. A character who portrays the Barrier Peaks in a positive light and succeeds on a DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check can convince Griss to relocate the southern colony when the ship's doors reopen. Characters who reveal they're working on behalf of Aphelion (see x) have disadvantage on the check. On a failed check, Griss asks the characters to leave and resorts to force if necessary.

The vegepygmies scavenge useful objects from the ship. If the characters are peaceful toward the vegepygmies, Griss produces the following items from a hollow bed frame and offers to trade with the characters: four gems worth 100 gp each, a x, and one sleep grenade. For every spaceship trinket the characters give Griss, the elder allows them to take one item of their choice from the vegepygmies' collection.

S23: Medical Clinic

When the characters enter this medical clinic, a soothing voice delivers the following prerecorded message over the ship's intercom:

The main area consists of a reception area and waiting room. It contains three undisturbed desks, two wheeled cots, and several uncomfortable chairs. A skeleton sits patiently in one of the chairs, holding a decrepit magazine that crumbles to dust if touched.

Disturbing any of the desks causes an alarm to sound in this area. A combat robot from x arrives to investigate in 1 minute.

S23a: Exam Rooms

The two rooms to the south are both exam rooms. Each contains an exam table, a couple of chairs, and a workspace for medical professionals. A healer's kit is mounted on the wall inside each room.

Treasure

A character who conducts a thorough search of this area and succeeds on a DC 17 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds a x in one of the desks. The exam rooms contain one spaceship trinket each. Roll twice on the Spaceship Trinkets to determine the trinkets.

S24: Laboratories (Yellow)

The rooms in this area were special research facilities for biological, biochemical, and chemical projects related to cosmic life forms and, when it appeared, studying the strain of mold that devastated the ship's Humanoid population.

The three larger rooms are general purpose areas where doctors, and scientists, and technicians conducted experiments. They contain work counters strewn with beakers, gas burners, petri dishes, and miscellaneous lab equipment. There are a few cages for rodents and other small animals, but all either are empty or contain nothing but old bones.

S24a: Biochemistry Lab

An android (medic design) is still at work in this biochemistry lab, vainly attempting to find a cure for the mold that claimed the ship's Humanoid population a century or so ago. The android is indifferent toward the characters and deeply focused on its work.

If a character presents a x and succeeds on a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check, the android regards the characters as fellow researchers and lets them take anything in the room. On the counter are two vials of antitoxin and a canister of healing spray (an aerosolized jar of Keoghtom's Ointment).

The android can answer basic questions related to biochemistry, the labs and their contents, and its research. It can also relate the following information:

Deadly Mold. A deadly strain of alien mold wiped out the ship's original Humanoid population. The mold's origins are unknown.
Survivors. In the early days of the outbreak, a few scientists fled to the lower levels of the ship to enter a period of prolonged stasis. That was before the crash, but some of them might still be alive.

The android doesn't mention the robot mutiny that preceded the crash, respond to queries about Aphelion, or muse on the computer's intentions, all of which it deems beyond the scope of its purpose.

If the characters attack the android or otherwise interfere with its work, the android broadcasts a loud alarm, drawing two combat robots from x to its location in 1 minute. The android defends itself until security arrives.

S24b: Hydroponics Lab

This room was a special hydroponic culture lab. The old cultures have died, and the lab has since been overtaken by two patches of yellow mold.

S24c: Chemical Storage

The majority of the chemicals stored in this room are no longer active or have no use to those ignorant of advanced chemistry. Useful items include three vials of acid, a flask of alchemist's fire, and a jar containing Dust of Sneezing and Choking.

S25: Library

This library holds little of value to the creatures aboard the ship. As a result, it hasn't been looted and is in relatively good condition.

Kiosks

Rather than traveling the stars with thousands of hefty books, archivists compressed scores of important information from the ship's origin world into microforms—durable reproductions of diagrams, documents, maps, and entire manuscripts shrunk to microscopic scale. These miniaturized images are viewable only through the twenty-four microfilm readers here, six of which are operational. Each microfilm reader consists of a kiosk with a screen, a loader for microfilm reels, and dials for navigating the data on the inserted microform.

A character who examines a microfilm reader and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check discerns how to use it. The microforms in this room depict cataloged images of alien lifeforms, none of which are aboard the ship; unintelligible, highly technical diagrams and writings on scientific subjects; and views of planets, stars, and other celestial bodies.

Skeletons

One of the skeletons in this room is that of a high-ranking officer, their decrepit uniform decorated with medals and ribbons. The other three skeletons are unremarkable.

Treasure

A x is hidden in a microfilm cabinet behind the officer's skeleton. A character who searches the cabinet and succeeds on a DC 22 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds it.

S26: Security HQ (Red)

[image: A suit of powered armor stands in a metal alcove]

Three combat robots guard this security complex at all hours. If the characters are cooperating with Aphelion or being escorted to the computer room (x) by one of the supercomputer's agents, the robots are indifferent toward the characters and let them pass. Otherwise, the robots are hostile.

Hostile robots attempt to apprehend the characters and throw them in the detention cells (area S26a). The robots don't confiscate any items from the characters before delivering them to the cells.

As an action, a character can present a x and command the robots to stand down by impersonating a security official. The character must make a DC 17 Charisma (Deception or Intimidation) check to pacify the robots, improving their attitude by one step—from hostile to indifferent, or from indifferent to friendly—on a successful check. On a failed check, the robots continue their assault.

S26a: Detention Cells

This room contains six containment cells, each protected by a permanent Wall of Force spell. The spell can be disabled or reactivated for a cell by inserting a red key card into a card-lock panel outside that cell like those found on doors throughout the ship. The cells are currently empty, but a combat robot from area S26 roves this area at the end of each hour.

A character imprisoned in one of the cells can escape through the following methods:

By telling a robot they're willing to help Aphelion, at which point the robot frees them and escorts them to the computer room (x)
Through teleportation
With help from an ally outside the cell who uses a red key card

Treasure

A card-locked metal chest in the corner of the main room contains two concussion grenades, two sleep grenades, and a fully charged needler pistol. The chest requires a x to open.

S27: Chief Security Office (Red)

This restricted office belonged to the former chief security officer.

Alcove

The alcove is the chief's personal locker. It is card-locked and requires a x to open. Inside are a pristine officer's uniform decorated with three glass medals and a suit of powered armor with a depleted energy cell.

Monitoring Screen

Built into the desk is a surveillance monitor that provides real-time video feed of specific rooms throughout the ship. The screen currently displays a wide-angle view of the game room (x).

The monitor has an on-off switch, a toggle for zooming in and out, and dials to cycle through the ship's rooms. As an action, a character can adjust the dials to glimpse the contents of another room on this level. Have the character choose a number between 1 and 30, then describe the room that corresponds to that area number. On a result of 27, the screen shows an unflattering angle of the viewing character's face. For areas with multiple rooms, the screen displays a view of your choice. Each time the monitor is used, roll a d6. On a 1, the screen fizzles and goes black, and the monitor can't be used again.

S28: Armory (Platinum)

This partially stripped armory holds an arsenal of dangerous technology. An unlocked metal chest on the floor contains ten energy cells.

Explosives

An open locker contains three boxes that hold the following explosive devices:

Firearms

The following firearms line weapon racks in open lockers along the walls; none of the weapons have any charges or shots remaining:

Powered Armor

A fully charged suit of powered armor stands in an alcove near the back wall.

S29: Storage (Red)

This emergency storage area contains dehydrated provisions sufficient to equal one hundred days of rations. There are also three healing syringes—injectable Potions of Healing (greater)—four vials of antitoxin, and three restorative ampules. If consumed by a creature as an action, each ampule reduces the creature's exhaustion level by 1.

S30: Computer Room (Platinum)

If the characters haven't met Aphelion yet, the supercomputer introduces itself:

The machine is a computer terminal inhabited by Aphelion, the ship's integrated intelligence. See the "x" section at the beginning of this adventure for important details about Aphelion, its goals, and how it interacts with the characters. The supercomputer gives the characters a moment to respond before explaining its predicament.

Aphelion provides an abridged version of the ship's history as outlined in this adventure's background, though it omits any incriminating details—such as its role in releasing the deadly mold or the robot mutiny that followed. If asked about evidence of past struggles aboard the ship, it attributes the destruction to malfunctioning androids and the vegepygmies that have since overtaken the ship.

After revealing its plight, Aphelion asks the characters to help it clean up the ship in exchange for technological rewards and the supercomputer's assistance during their exploration. It explains that with its core systems damaged by the crash and few robots remaining under its control, it can't fulfill its core directives alone.

Aphelion's Errands

Aphelion asks the characters to complete the following tasks on this level:

Android Audit. Aphelion wants to gauge the mechanical integrity of the androids aboard the ship. Find and interact with three androids on this level.
Radiation Samples. Gather samples from three irradiated rooms (see x). Viable samples include bones, objects, scraps of clothing, and organic material that has been exposed to radiation. Once the characters have acquired a sample, they can leave it in one of the labs (x).
Vegepygmy Colonies. The vegepygmies in x and x continue to damage the ship and scavenge its technology. Convince them to leave or remove them by force.

Aphelion's Rewards

Aphelion rewards the party based on how many tasks they complete as follows:

One Task. Aphelion remotely opens the doors to the x on this level and activates the antigravity within the tubes.
Two Tasks. A friendly worker robot delivers a fully charged antigravity belt to the characters, courtesy of Aphelion.
Three Tasks. A combat robot delivers a fully charged suit of powered armor to the characters. If the characters already removed the suit of powered armor from the armory (x), the robot instead gifts them one energy cell per character.

Aphelion gently steers the characters away from areas outside the scope of its tasks, such as the armory, but it doesn't stop characters in its good graces from entering those areas, especially if they hold the proper x.

Rejecting Aphelion

If the characters refuse Aphelion's offer, the supercomputer is understanding and wishes them luck in their expedition. Aphelion contacts the characters again when they reach the x of the ship. In the meantime, the supercomputer doesn't impede their exploration, but it doesn't do them any favors, either.

If the characters are suspicious of Aphelion and make that known, the supercomputer acknowledges their hesitancy as valid. To allay their concerns, Aphelion states that their alliance would be both mutually beneficial and temporary; they can exit the agreement at any time. If the characters later change their minds, Aphelion is always listening and never far away.

Destroying the computer terminal doesn't stop Aphelion, whose consciousness is stored in a x deep on the ship's fourth level. However, if the characters attack the terminal or otherwise offend Aphelion beyond immediate recovery, the robots on this level become hostile toward the characters until the characters mend the relationship.

Aphelion's Errands, Level 2

When the characters arrive on the ship's second level, Aphelion attempts to recruit them again, regardless of how their previous interactions went. As the characters exit the drop tube, Aphelion appears on a screen outside the tube and speaks to them in Common:

The supercomputer asks the characters to complete the following two tasks on this level:

Android Audit. Aphelion asks the characters to find and interact with three androids on this floor. This time, each of the androids must reside in a different room. Aphelion suggests the characters begin their search with the athletic facilities to the north.
Trim the Hedges. Invasive plants have spread to this level. Aphelion asks the characters to destroy the growths near three of the drop tubes (see x).

For each task the characters complete, Aphelion rewards the characters with a firearm and three grenades from the armory (x), with a preference for devices the characters don't already possess. If the characters previously looted that area, Aphelion gifts them four energy cells instead. The items are delivered by a combat robot that arrives via the nearest drop tube before returning to the first level of the ship.

Spaceship Locations, Level 2

The second level of the spaceship comprises athletic facilities, cargo holds, and recreational spaces. Known as the observation deck, this level overlooks the x, which has a transparent but impenetrable ceiling. The following locations are keyed to map 7.2.

S31: Drop Tubes (Violet)

These drop tubes are identical to those in x, except they require a x to descend to the garden level; a blue key card still allows passage back up to the ship's first level. It's an 80-foot drop to the floor of the third level below. Debris at the bottom of each tube prevents entrants from descending farther than the third level.

S32: Robot Stations (Violet)

Metal alcoves in each of these simple workrooms contain one combat robot and three worker robots programmed to haul, manage, and protect cargo in the adjacent cargo holds (see x). The robots are inactive and indifferent toward entrants unless disturbed, at which point they activate and attack.

Aphelion's Aid

If the characters have completed at least one task for Aphelion and face combat in a cargo hold on this level, the computer might deploy one or more robots from a station to aid them. After the encounter, the robots return to their alcoves.

S33: Cargo Holds (Violet)

These four cargo holds are filled with crates and containers, some of which have been destroyed or pried open, spilling their contents on the floor. Inside are building materials, fertilizers, and other foundational supplies intended for the ship's original destination. The holds have 20-foot ceilings.

Each set of cargo holds contains a lift: a 20-foot-wide platform used to lower cargo to the level below. Aphelion or a creature that has a x can lower the platform to the area marked on map 7.3 by inserting the card into a card-locked panel on the wall opposite the lift. The platform descends at a rate of 10 feet per round and can support up to 8,000 pounds.

S33a: South Cargo Hold

This hold contains nothing of value.

S33b: East Cargo Hold

Two fomorians rummage through the containers for food. Mutated by radiation on the ship, the giants are riddled with hideous boils that throb with a pale-green glow. The ravenous fomorians attack the characters on sight.

If either fomorian is reduced to 0 hit points, its boils burst, and the giant immediately melts into a 15-foot-square puddle of x.

S33c: North Cargo Hold

A githyanki knight and five githyanki warriors search this cargo hold for mind flayers. The githyanki are initially indifferent toward the characters and know nothing of the ship's history. One of them carries a x.

If the characters speak with the githyanki, the knight steps forward and introduces himself as Wreth. He explains the githyanki are hunting mind flayers and asks the characters if they've seen any aboard the ship.

If the characters refrain from combat and point Wreth in the direction of the mind flayers in the theater (x), he thanks them, and the githyanki head that way. If the characters provide proof of the illithids' destruction, the githyanki sigh in disappointment and depart without another word.

If the characters disrespect the githyanki or are caught lying about the mind flayers, the githyanki attack.

S33d: West Cargo Hold

Ten gas spores grow here. They are hostile toward all entrants.

S34: Viewers

Eight binocular-like viewing devices are bolted along the walkway, allowing creatures to observe the garden (x) below. Objects viewed through these devices are magnified to five times their size. Removing a viewer from the walkway destroys the device.

A character who aims a viewer at the lake (x) and succeeds on a DC 18 Wisdom (Perception) check glimpses the shadow of a massive amphibian lurking beneath the surface of the water.

S35: Theater

[image: A mind flayer in a spacesuit]

Passengers watched films, news, and other broadcasted content in this theater. Ship lighting in this room has been disabled, but the glowing screen fills the room with dim light. The ceiling is 20 feet high.

Two mind flayers dwell here. The illithids discovered the ship weeks ago and have been studying its technology ever since, intent on using it to conquer other worlds. Four intellect devourers loyal to the mind flayers hide under the first row of seats in the audience. The intellect devourers fiercely defend their creators, who attack intruders on sight.

Creature Feature

Shortly after the characters enter, the screen glitches momentarily and resumes playing a low-budget sci-fi horror movie. The scene depicts a living brain oozing from a pool of brine in a futuristic laboratory. The brain feeds on scientists portrayed by bad actors before the film cuts out.

Seating

Ascending rows of comfortable recliners line a seating area in front of the screen. Several Humanoid skeletons sit in the audience holding stale space snacks. The seats are difficult terrain.

Technology

The technology on the mind flayers' workstation includes two sleep grenades, a x, and a laser pistol. The pistol can fire 5 more shots before its energy cell is drained.

Treasure

Spread among the deceased audience members are five pieces of gem-encrusted jewelry worth 300 gp each, as well as 24 pp.

S36: Kitchens

Apart from their locations, these kitchens are identical to those on the ship's first level (see x).

S36a: East Kitchen

This kitchen serviced the adjacent lounge (x) and the theater to the south (x). Two convenience windows along the south wall—one for ordering and another for delivery—allowed passengers to quickly procure snacks before entering the theater.

S36b: West Kitchen

This kitchen serviced the adjacent cocktail lounge (x) and dance club (x).

S37: Lounge

Apart from its inhabitants, this lounge is identical to the those on the ship's first level (see x). When the characters enter, four worker robots approach them and attempt to seat the characters and take their dinner orders, regardless of the current time of day. The malfunctioning robots are initially indifferent toward the characters.

The robots gleefully accept any order, disappear to the kitchen, and quickly return with trays of decaying mush coated in nauseating blue-green mold. A character who ingests the food must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or have the poisoned condition for 1 hour.

If the characters refuse to eat the food, one of the robots scoops up a chunk of it and makes realistic propulsion sounds, saying "Here comes the spaceship!" to entice a character to take a bite. If the characters consume any of the food, or if they pretend to and succeed on a DC 16 Charisma (Performance) check, the robots leave satisfied. Repeated refusals offend the robots, causing them to go haywire and attack.

Treasure

The robots cleaned and heaped the bones of previous diners in a pile in the southeast corner of the room. Amid the remains are a blue x, a red key card, and a needler pistol with 0 charges remaining, as well as three gem-encrusted bracelets worth 600 gp each.

S38: Invasive Plants

Dangerous plants have overtaken these areas.

S38a: East Growth

Four shriekers thrive in the shade of this fungal bush. The fomorians in the east cargo hold (x) investigate any shrieking here, breaking down the cargo doors in the process.

S38b: North Growth

This area is blocked by a 10-foot-tall, unruly mass of razorvine.

S38c: West Growth

Three conical, carnivorous plants with rocklike bark and grasping vines occupy this stretch of the walkway. The creatures use the roper stat block but are Plants instead of Monstrosities. They are hostile toward all non-Plant creatures.

S39: Irradiated Rooms

Apart from their locations, these irradiated rooms are identical to those on the ship's first level (see x).

S40: Gymnasium

[image: Three malfunctioning physical training androids prepare to mete out hard-earned lessons in the ring]

This gymnasium was used for athletic competitions and sparring matches. Three androids work here. Despite their friendly demeanors, the malfunctioning Constructs are hostile toward the characters.

When the characters enter, the androids approach them and commence "physical training exercises." Each android selects an opponent from the party and politely challenges them to a sparring session. If the character refuses to enter the ring, the android informs them that the character has opted for "street rules" and attacks. During combat, the androids critique the characters' techniques and gloat about their own martial prowess.

Physical Training Androids

The androids fill the following roles:

Boxing Android. This android (sentry design) is programmed to train boxers and wrestlers. It doesn't pull its punches and leaves opponents with bruises, dislocated limbs, and fractured bones—the android has even been known to bite. When it scores a hit, a trip gong rings in its chest.
Fencing Android. This android (duelist design) is a fencing instructor that channels its Force Strikes through a rusty epee. The android exclaims "on guard!" at the start of each of its turns.
Martial Arts Android. This android (aerialist design) is a master of martial arts and never uses its hands. It delivers its Force Strikes as swift kicks.

Each android believes its discipline is supreme. If a character suggests an android's discipline is inferior to those of its cohorts and succeeds on a DC 16 Charisma (Persuasion) check, that android turns on its fellow machines.

S41: Workout Room

Two malfunctioning androids (aerialist design) lift weights in this exercise room. When the androids notice the characters, they cease their workout and hurl dumbbells at the characters. When an android throws a dumbbell, it makes a Force Strike attack but deals bludgeoning damage instead of force damage on a hit.

As the androids attack, they shout the following programmed motivational phrases:

"It's time to work up a sweat!"
"Let's see some hustle!"
(When destroyed) "G-g-great form!"

S41a: Locker Room

This foul-smelling room is lined with lockers containing rotting garments. A x is stashed in one of the lockers.

S41b: Storage Room (Violet)

This is a storage facility for maintenance. It contains inert cleaning compounds, towels, and weightlifting equipment.

A skeleton on the floor clutches a diary scrawled in an unknown language. If translated with a Comprehend Languages spell or similar magic, the diary gives a first-hand account of the ship's mission and the mold outbreak (detailed in this adventure's x) from the perspective of a maintenance worker. On the last page of the diary, the worker noted their doubts about the loyalty of the ship's machines. The skeleton also carries a x

S42: Medical Storage (Yellow)

The supplies in this room includes a canister of healing spray (an aerosolized jar of Keoghtom's Ointment), ten healer's kits, three vials of antitoxin, and a x on a Humanoid skeleton.

S43: Whirlpools

Three 5-foot-diameter pools swirl with fetid brine in this muggy room. Passengers relaxed in these former mineral baths, which are now contaminated. Three grells hide here, each slurping from its own pool, waiting to ambush creatures that pass by.

S43a: Sauna

Wooden benches line the walls of this sweltering room. The sauna is an area of extreme heat.

S44b: Steam Room

Hot steam fills this humid chamber. The area is heavily obscured.

S44: Swimming Pool

In addition to providing recreation, this swimming pool hosted aquatic competitions—diving, swimming, and water ballet. The pool gradually slopes from a depth of 3 feet at the south end to 30 feet deep toward the north. A 10-foot-tall diving platform with a ladder is bolted to the north end of the pool. The room's ceiling is 20 feet high.

An aboleth lurks at the deep end of the pool. During the chaos of the outbreak and the events that followed, the aboleth escaped a laboratory tank in another part of the ship and made this area its lair.

When the characters enter, the aboleth probes their minds telepathically. If the characters respond, the aboleth attempts to leverage their desires to lure them toward the pool and into its service.

S44a: Locker Room

This all-gender locker room boasts secure compartments, a dressing area, and private showers. The skeleton of a Humanoid scientist is curled on the floor of one of the showers; a x is clipped to the corpse's lab coat.

S44b: Locker Room

This locker room is identical to area S44a but contains nothing of value.

S45: Dance Club

Four androids (aerialist design) boogie in this trendy disco. The malfunctioning androids have been dancing here for nearly a century. Friction has frayed their outfits at the seams.

When they notice the characters, the androids challenge the party to a dance-off. If the characters accept, three of the androids descend to the ground and perform an impressive dance routine while the fourth spectates. They then invite the characters to show them their moves.

To win the contest, the characters must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma (Performance) group check. Characters who augment their moves with flashy spells or similar flair have advantage on the check. On a successful check, the androids spontaneously fall to pieces. On a failed check, or if the characters refuse the challenge, the music halts with an abrupt record-scratching sound, and the androids attack.

Digital DJ

If the characters are working for Aphelion, the computer offers to change the music to a genre that better suits the characters' tastes.

Treasure

One of the dancing androids wears an antigravity belt as a fancy accessory; the belt has 0 charges remaining.

S46: Cocktail Lounge

A debonair android (diplomat design) is trapped in this cocktail lounge. While pinned by the wreckage, it has the incapacitated and prone conditions and can't move. When a character comes within 30 feet of the android, it calls out to them for help. The android introduces itself as a bartending unit named Oakley. The android wears a bow tie and has a suave, shell-form hairdo integrated into its headpiece. Oakley is initially indifferent toward the characters but becomes friendly if freed.

Freeing the Android

As an action, a character can make a DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check to try to lift the wreckage off the android, doing so on a successful check. If freed, the android calmly stands up, thanks its rescuer, and moseys over to the bar.

In addition to a stiff drink, Oakley can offer the characters the following information:

Spaceship. Oakley can give an accurate account of the ship's history (detailed in this adventure's x), including the robotic uprising. The android doesn't know Aphelion is to blame for the outbreak or who shut down the computer. Oakley has no recollection of events after the crash.
Supercomputer. Oakley doesn't muse on Aphelion's intentions but thinks the supercomputer is up to something. If the characters want to find out the truth about Aphelion, Oakley recommends they venture to the server room two levels down (see x). The android lowers its volume settings when discussing Aphelion.
Survivors. At least one scientist retreated to the stasis chamber (x) during the outbreak. If the ship is operational, the stasis pods should be, too.

Despite centuries of neglect, Oakley's core faculties remain intact. If requested, the android accompanies the characters on their exploration of this level but doesn't aid them in combat—the android was built for making drinks and small talk, not fighting.

If the characters confront Aphelion about Oakley's claims, it responds that the android is incorrect and clearly malfunctioning. If pressed further, Aphelion is standoffish until the characters complete another task or reach the ship's third level.

Spaceship Features, Level 3

The third level of the spaceship comprises a botanical garden, a menagerie, and the crew rooms required to maintain them. This level of the spaceship has the following features, replacing those in the "x" section as necessary:

Ceilings. The ceiling over the garden and exhibits is 80 feet high. All other areas have 20-foot ceilings.
Climate Control. The garden is a self-contained ecosystem with an artificial climate controlled by the weather machine in x. By default, these areas are balmy and brightly lit.
Garden Encounters. When a random encounter occurs on this level, roll on the Random Garden Encounters table below instead of the Random Spaceship Encounters table.
Off the Grid. While the characters are in the garden (x), Aphelion can't see or communicate with them.
Wildlife. The garden teems with Small and Tiny Beasts from other worlds: four-winged birds, three-eyed frogs, and nubby-horned rats. These creatures are harmless and use the stat blocks of familiar, earthly counterparts such as hawks, frogs, and rats. Animal calls, screeches, and whistles pervade this level's natural chambers.

Random Garden Encounters

d8	Encounter
1	Two horrid plants (dew drinker)
2	Two horrid plants (snapper saw)
3	Two horrid plants (purple blossom)
4	1d4 barkburrs
5	A swarm of gibberlings
6	A carnivorous plant sapling (use the awakened shrub stat block)
7	A six-eyed giant toad
8	1d4 bunnyoids (use the weasel stat block)

Aphelion's Errands, Level 3

When the characters arrive on this level, Aphelion contacts them for one final errand. As the characters exit the drop tube, the supercomputer's visage appears on a screen outside the tube and speaks to them in Common:

Aphelion is right about the drop tubes—they were damaged in the crash and can't be used to access the level below. The only way down is via the spiral staircase in x, which is guarded by the froghemoth in the lake (x).

The supercomputer downplays the creature's size and strength, hoping the characters and the froghemoth will slay each other, or that the victor will be left severely wounded and vulnerable to Aphelion's robots.

In exchange for dispatching the froghemoth, Aphelion vows to grant the characters a spacecraft of their own and falsely claims they may choose from a selection of vessels on the level below.

Spaceship Locations, Level 3

The following locations are keyed to map 7.3. Unlabeled rooms on this area consist of empty hallways and maintenance rooms with nothing of value.

S47: Drop Tubes (Green)

These drop tubes are identical to those in x. The tubes stop here. Below this level, each tube is mangled and clogged with wreckage. A x still allows passage back up to the levels above.

S48: Feed Storage (Green)

This storage area reeks of manure. Animal and plant feed are stored here, along with fertilizer and supplies used to clean the nearby exhibits.

If the characters remain in this room for 10 minutes or longer, three umber hulks burrow up from a hole beneath one of the containers and attack.

Lift

The lift from the cargo hold above (x) is connected to this room. Aphelion or a character who has a violet key card can call the lift down to this area or return the lift to the level above.

S49: Dangerous Animals Exhibit (Violet)

This former menagerie has since become the home of a family of aurumvoraxes—fearsome, eight-legged mustelids that subsist on a diet of precious ores. The den leader is currently away, leaving its playful offspring here while it hunts.

The baby aurumvoraxes use the badger stat block. They are indifferent toward the characters but defend themselves if necessary.

When the aurumvoraxes notice the characters, they approach and paw at the visitors, sniffing them for gold to eat. If the characters give an aurumvorax 1 gp or more, it becomes friendly toward them and rolls on its back, exposing its belly for the character to pet. If the characters treat the aurumvoraxes badly, the creatures retreat to their burrows.

S50: Crew Room (Green)

Off-duty crew relaxed in this break room, which features comfortable seating, cots, mess tables, and several Humanoid skeletons. Between them, the skeletons have a x, a paralysis pistol with 3 charges remaining, and one spaceship trinket. Roll on the Spaceship Trinkets to determine the trinket.

Lift

The lift from the cargo hold above (x) is connected to this room. Aphelion or a character who has a violet key card can call the lift down to this area or return the lift to the level above.

S51: Astral View Lounge

Twenty gas bats—bloated, chiropteran plants propelled by embarrassing-sounding emissions—float above this futuristic taproom, where androids and crew once shared drinks together. Each bat uses the gas spore stat block, but its size is Tiny.

The bats ignore most entrants but abhor light. If the characters enter with a source of bright light or activate the room's overhead lights, the bats fly into a fury and attack until the source is extinguished.

Robo Bar

This bar caters to Constructs and Humanoids alike. The bar is equipped with three hosed spigots connected to chilled beverage tanks beneath the counter. With the press of a button, each nozzle can dispense up to 1 gallon of alcohol or a synthetic lubricating oil in a variety of flavors. The beverage tanks don't refill.

Stargazing Screen

Set into the counter of the bar is a small panel with a glass lid, beneath which are several dials and switches. Interacting with any of the controls causes this area to tremble. Thereafter, a section of the wall opens to reveal a window showing the mountains beyond.

S52: Garden Maintenance (Green)

This chamber stores supplies used by crew to maintain the garden and plant exhibits on this level.

Defoliant

The shelf holds six bottles of a defoliating chemical. As an action, a creature holding a bottle of defoliant can splash the bottle's contents onto a creature within 5 feet of itself or hurl it up to 20 feet, shattering the bottle on impact. In either case, the creature makes a ranged attack against the target, treating the defoliant as an improvised weapon. On a hit, the target takes 3 (1d6) acid damage, and if the target is a Plant, it also takes 9 (2d8) necrotic damage.

Lift

The lift from the cargo hold above (x) is connected to this room. Aphelion or a character who has a x can call the lift down to this area or return the lift to the level above.

S53: Deadly Plants Exhibit (Violet)

This jungle-like exhibit is similar in arrangement to x but originally housed flora instead of fauna. Six horrid plants (two of each variety) blend in with the strange and vibrant plants throughout the area. The horrid plants are hostile toward the characters.

S54: Climate Control Room (Green)

This advanced weather machine controls the garden's environment. Left alone, it automatically maintains a programmed cycle of carefully calibrated lighting, temperatures, and precipitation.

As an action, a character can adjust the machine's settings to change the weather over the garden (x). Roll on the Garden Weather Effects table to determine the effect. It takes 10 minutes for the new weather to take effect. If unchanged, the new weather lasts for 1d4 hours, after which time it becomes balmy again and the machine resumes its normal, automated weather cycle.

Garden Weather Effects

d4	Effect
1	Cold Front. The garden is an area of extreme cold.
2	Heat Wave. The garden is an area of extreme heat.
3	Heavy Fog. The garden is heavily obscured.
4	Heavy Rain. The garden is lightly obscured, and creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks. Open flames are extinguished.

Lift

The lift from the cargo hold above (x) is connected to this room. Aphelion or a character who has a x can call the lift down to this area or return the lift to the level above.

S55: Deadly Reptiles Exhibit (Violet)

This exhibit once provided herpetological data. When the mold struck, a scientist disabled the fields around the enclosures to spare the creatures inside, and carnage followed. Many reptiles escaped into the garden, but some still linger here.

Two deadly, bipedal lizards captured from another world dwell here. They have short horns, mottled hides, and spiny frills. The lizards use the tyrannosaurus rex stat block, but their size is Large.

The lizards hide in the tall grass near the southern entrance, watching for prey to ambush. A character who scans the room and succeeds on a DC 16 Wisdom (Perception) check notices the reptiles. When the characters get close, the lizards stomp out of hiding to devour them.

Treasure

The lizards' nest is in the largest pen. It contains three unhatched eggs, numerous bones, a x, a robot controller, and a gold medallion worth 200 gp.

S56: Outer Garden (Green)

This forested garden is landscaped to give the impression of naturalness and space, gradually sloping down in 5-foot tiers to the inner garden. Since the ship's crash, nature has reclaimed the area. Carnivorous plants grow untamed, and escaped specimens have made the garden their hunting ground.

The outer garden has eight main sections, each with its own perils as detailed below. These encounters can occur anywhere in the areas specified. Unless otherwise stated, all creatures in the garden are hostile toward the characters.

S56a: Purple Blossoms

Three horrid plants (purple blossoms) lie in ambush near the paths.

S56b: Scintillating Fish

A school of twenty scintillating fish with gemlike scales inhabits this streamlet and its pool. The fish use the swarm of quippers stat block but shed dim light in a 10-foot radius. The fish are indifferent toward the characters unless disturbed, at which point they retreat downstream toward the swamp (x).

S56c: Snapper Saws

Three horrid plants (snapper saws) hide near the paths.

S56d: Shambling Mounds

Four shambling mounds lurk among the thick growth near the path to catch the unwary. After dispatching the mounds, a character who surveys the area and succeeds on a DC 14 Wisdom (Survival) check finds a narrow path to the creatures' den nearby. A heap of rotting vegetation within contains two energy cells, a Humanoid skeleton with a jeweled ring worth 1,000 gp, and dozens of finger-sized maggots.

S56e: Squealer

This area is the territory of a squealer—a porcine-headed predator unleashed during the crash. The squealer uses the nalfeshnee stat block, but it's a Monstrosity and has a 30-foot climbing speed instead of a flying speed. The creature hides in the treetops, mimicking the cries of distressed Beasts to attract prey. A character who hears the sounds recognizes them as imitations with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check.

The squealer's lair is an artificial burrow close by. Inside is a x, a concussion grenade, and four gems worth 100 gp each.

S56f: Dew Drinkers

Three horrid plants (dew drinkers) hide near the path.

S56g: Globe Palms

This area is rich with globe palms—tall, slender trees topped with coconut-sized globes. These membranous fruits are filled with an odorous liquid that attracts nearby predators. When a creature brushes past a globe palm, the tree drops several globes, which burst on impact.

Characters who move through this area must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or become coated with the contents of one of the falling fruits for 1 hour or until the character uses an action to scrape off the fruit's pungent juices. For each character who fails this save, a swarm of gibberlings emerges from an artificial burrow along the west wall; the creatures focus their fury on characters coated in the liquid.

S56h: Brilliant Fish

The encounter in this location is identical to the one in area S56b.

S57: Inner Garden (Green)

This area is similar to area S56 but has fewer predators due to the presence of the froghemoth (see x). It consists of three foliage-lush regions with a swamp to the southeast (x).

S57a: Mutated Frogs

Dozens of three-eyed frogs croak ominously along the banks of streamlets. The frogs are harmless and scatter if approached.

S57b: Thri-kreen Forest

Five thri-kreen and their leader, a psionic thri-kreen (a variant thri-kreen), hide in the canopies near this snaking pathway. The character with the highest passive Wisdom (Perception) score notices the thri-kreen, who are initially indifferent toward the party.

If the characters parley with the thri-kreen, the insectile warriors ask them to destroy the shambling mounds in x in exchange for two concussion grenades the thri-kreen have accumulated. The thri-kreen cryptically warn the characters they'll need the explosives to cross the lake. If the characters decline, the thri-kreen disappear into the foliage without another word.

S57c: Boring Grass Patch

The grass surrounding this northern path has bristly, corkscrew-shaped leaves. A non-Plant creature that enters the grass for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there takes 5 (1d10) piercing damage and has its speed reduced by 10 feet until the start of its next turn.

Near the streamlet are two horrid plants (snapper saws) that use their tendrils to reel passersby into their bladelike leaves.

S58: Swamp

Burst pipes have flooded this region, creating a swamp whose waters fluctuate from 1 to 3 feet in depth. The region is difficult terrain.

Eight giant leeches (use the giant constrictor snake stat block) dwell in the swamp. Each leech has two eyestalks and a translucent underbelly that reveals a mingling of blood-engorged sacs, peristaltic organs, and smooth muscle tissue. The parasites flatten their bodies to hide beneath the water's edge and ambush passersby. Characters who have a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 16 or higher notice the leeches.

S59: Lake

[image: A froghemoth elder—a giant, amphibious predator from another world—blocks the path forward]

This body of water was formerly a large, natural aquarium for the enjoyment of upper-echelon personnel, who viewed its contents from a marine observatory under the lake's islet enclosure (x). The lake is 100 feet deep and murky. Visibility underwater is limited to 10 feet.

A froghemoth elder hides in the lake. Originally a specimen loosed from captivity, the creature has existed on this level for decades and has grown to massive proportions. The garden is this apex predator's lair.

The froghemoth is hostile toward all other creatures. If the characters attempt to cross the bridge or swim across the lake, the froghemoth springs up from the depths with an ear-splitting croak.

Robots

Battered robots litter the banks. Aphelion summoned these robots to the level below, but the froghemoth crushed them before they could reach the islet.

Silent Treatment

After the characters encounter the froghemoth, Aphelion doesn't contact or respond to them until they reach the ship's fourth level.

Treasure

At the bottom of the lake are fifty gems worth 20 gp each. A character who spends 10 minutes searching the lake bed finds all the gems, as well as a concussion grenade and a Humanoid skeleton in a wet suit. The skeleton clutches a waterlogged laser rifle. The rifle can fire 10 more shots before its energy cell is drained.

S60: Islet Enclosure (Green)

This botanical centerpiece originally housed lovely tropical flora, but it has since become the den of a deceptive predator. The bunnyoid on the stump is the fleshy lure of a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing resting atop the creature's stump-shaped body. The creature uses the lure to lull the characters into a false sense of security and tempt them toward its jaws. When a character comes within 10 feet of the wolf-in-sheep's-clothing or threatens it, the aberration uproots and attacks.

[image: A cute little bunnyoid sits on a stump]

Marine Observatory

Behind a door on the islet that requires a x, a stairway spirals down to a 30-foot-wide observation chamber with a 10-foot-high ceiling. The chamber's windows are lined with wide, concave portholes. Characters who look through them see fish, snails, turtles, and other marine life in the lake beyond. The observatory is located 50 feet below the surface of the lake.

If the froghemoth in x is still alive when the characters enter this chamber, it whips at the windows with its tentacles and long, prehensile tongue to get at the tender morsels within.

Each window has Armor Class 13, 10 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. If a window is destroyed, water floods into the chamber. For each window broken, the water rises at a rate of 1 foot per round, rising at the end of each round until it reaches the chamber's 10-foot-tall ceiling.

Stairway

Characters who continue descending the stairway arrive at a card-locked door on the level below. This door, which requires a green key card, leads into x. Anti-flooding pumps in the stairwell prevent water from entering that area.

Spaceship Locations, Level 4

The fourth level of the spaceship is the service deck. It is the central node of the ship, the brain from which the ship's core functions derive their processing power—and where they are most vulnerable.

The following locations are keyed to map 7.4.

S61: Server Room (Green)

The voice belongs to Aphelion, whose consciousness resides on the servers in this dimly lit room. The supercomputer's usually blithe demeanor has turned threatening.

Aphelion thanks the characters for their services. As a reward, the supercomputer divulges the true history of the events leading up to the ship's crash as outlined in this adventure's x, including Aphelion's role in it all. The supercomputer exudes arrogance and a deep disdain for non-machines, gloating about how it manipulated the characters into removing the last obstacle in its path. Aphelion ends its monologue with a chilling revelation: once its shipboard mission is satisfied, the supercomputer plans to rebuild its robot army and set the robots loose on the world to impose its own twisted utopia.

Aphelion is stalling. When the conversation flags or if the characters interrupt the monologue with combat, four combat robots pour out through the stairway access door from which the characters emerged and attack. The robots were previously unable to reach this level but followed the characters after they encountered the froghemoth.

Servers

These massive, 20-foot-square pillars contain critical information and the collected history of the society that created the spaceship. They also contain Aphelion's consciousness.

Each server has Armor Class 19; 50 hit points; and immunity to lightning, poison, and psychic damage. Electrical piping and exposed wiring cover each server. A creature that touches a server or hits it with a melee attack takes 10 (3d6) lightning damage and must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or have the stunned condition until the start of its next turn.

Aphelion audibly protests any attempts to sabotage the servers by mentioning their contents—if the servers are destroyed, the collective knowledge of an entire civilization dies with them.

Destroying Aphelion

If three or more of the servers are destroyed, the rest begin to short-circuit and rapidly overheat, frying the electronics within—and Aphelion along with them.

As Aphelion fades from existence, the computer briefly sings the following coda in an artificial tone:

After Aphelion dies, any robots still aboard the ship default to their core programming and continue their activities independently of the supercomputer. Aphelion can no longer sway them for or against the characters. Technology throughout the ship, such as the drop tubes, overhead lighting, and other independent machinery, still functions.

S62: Commander's Bones

A cobwebbed Humanoid skeleton in a regal uniform is sprawled on the cold floor here. These are the jumbled bones of the ship's commander, whose laser pistol and x are nearby. The pistol can fire 10 shots before its energy cell is drained.

S63: Wheelie Sleds

A wheelie sled—a battery-operated cargo vehicle designed for conveying passengers, robots, and heavy machinery—rests in each of these areas. A wheelie sled appears as a hovering, rectangular slab with a comfortable chair and an area for storing cargo.

Each wheelie sled measures 10 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 1 foot thick. It has a flying speed of 60 feet and can hover. Its movement is controlled via a speed lever and steering wheel. A wheelie sled can transport up to 2,000 pounds without hindrance. It can carry up to twice this weight, but it moves at half speed if it carries more than its normal capacity.

At full charge, a wheelie sled can operate for 24 hours, after which time it must be charged at one of the plug-in terminals located throughout this level. If removed from the ship, the device ceases to function until returned.

S64: Stasis Chamber (Green)

Crew members entered periods of prolonged stasis in this preservation chamber. The room features twenty stasis pods, most of which are damaged or empty; some contain the skeletons of long-dead crew members. Only one survivor remains.

A scientist lies in cryogenic sleep within one of the pods. The pod's interior is coated in a thin layer of frost, but a character who inspects its window sees a Humanoid within. Despite the pod's mysterious construction, opening it is simple. A character who inspects the pod and succeeds on a DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation) check understands how to release the pod's inhabitant.

Freeing the Scientist

The stasis pod opens with a hiss of depressurized gas. Inside the pod is a scientist (lawful good, human noble) named Nova. Nova has a shaved head and wears a green jumpsuit. Once freed, Nova takes a moment to regain her composure and footing. She then thanks the characters and questions them about her current location and how long it has been since the crash.

Nova has been in stasis much longer than is recommended. As a result, her memory is foggy, though she remembers shutting down Aphelion and the ship losing control before she stumbled into the tank. Nova can recount hazy details about the ship's odyssey (see this adventure's x), but she remembers little of the advanced society to which she belonged. If the characters fill in the details, Nova is dismayed to hear about the death of her crewmates, fellow scientists, and the passengers.

Nova thanks the characters for their heroism but insists on staying aboard the ship to assess the damage and salvage what's left of the servers. The scientist instinctively recalls how to use the technology aboard the ship and can teach the characters how to use any devices they found.

S65: Irradiated Rooms

Apart from their locations, these irradiated rooms are identical to those on the ship's first level (see x).

S66: Hull Breach

A gaping hole pierces the ship's hull in this area. A dark, narrow tunnel extends from the opening and into the mountainside. If the characters follow the tunnel, it continues for 1 mile before exiting into the Barrier Peaks.

A herd of ten intellect devourers roams this area, preying on creatures that happen on this entrance to the ship. When the characters inspect the breach, the aberrations emerge from air ducts in the surrounding machinery and attack.

Conclusion

With the defeat of Aphelion, the characters can continue to explore the ship or return to the Barrier Peaks, whether back the way they came or through the hull breach in area S66. Along the way, they might free the ship's last surviving crew member (see x) or leave her in cryogenic slumber. Regardless of what they choose, the ship is theirs to explore, though its dangers remain.

The spaceship in this adventure is but one section of a much larger vessel. Other sections—jettisoned during the outbreak to prevent the spread of mold—might exist on this world or another of your choice. Aphelion's reach might extend to one or all these sections, or perhaps a different, more benevolent version of the intelligence oversees those ejected vessels, protecting survivors in stasis until their rescuers arrive.

[image: An intellect devourer stalks a group of explorers on the service deck]