Point Lotious Safehouse Sidequests
Point Lotious Safehouse Sidequests
Sidequest 1 — A Signal Beneath the Skin
Location: Infirmary Primary Focus: Medicine, investigation, controlled resonance Recommended Level: 1 Expected Length: 30–45 minutes
Hook
The infirmary is already crowded when the party arrives. Injured Tamsin Rooks fill most of the cots, and the safehouse medic, Doctor Sera Vale, is working with scavenged equipment and dwindling supplies.
One of the Rooks rescued from Omicron-9, Joren Pell, begins suffering violent muscle spasms. A blue light pulses beneath the skin along his ribs. At first, everyone assumes he was struck by one of the twins’ resonance discharges.
Doctor Vale quickly determines that the object inside him is artificial.
“That is not shrapnel. It is transmitting.”
Helix Meridian implanted a medical tracking filament in Joren while he was briefly detained several weeks earlier. The device remained dormant until it detected the twins’ resonance field.
Unless it is removed or neutralized, it will begin transmitting Point Lotious’ location.
What Is Happening
The tracking filament is wrapped around a major nerve cluster. Cutting it out carelessly could paralyze or kill Joren. Leaving it active risks exposing the entire safehouse.
The party must gain 5 Treatment Points before accumulating 3 Trauma.
| Approach | Check | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Identify the filament’s attachment points | DC 15 Medicine check | Gain 1 Treatment Point; critical success gains 2 |
| Map its internal circuitry | DC 15 Computers check | Gain 1 Treatment Point |
| Build a signal suppressor | DC 15 Crafting check | Gain 1 Treatment Point and prevent the next transmission pulse |
| Carefully expose the implant | DC 15 Medicine or Thievery check | Gain 1 Treatment Point |
| Use the twins’ field to hold the filament still | DC 15 Medicine, Occultism, or Diplomacy check | Gain 1 Treatment Point, but a failure causes resonance feedback |
| Convince Joren to remain conscious and still | DC 15 Diplomacy check | The next Medicine check gains a +1 circumstance bonus |
A critical failure increases Trauma by 1. Some failures may also cause Joren to take minor electricity or persistent bleed damage.
Transmission Pulses
At the end of each round or major treatment step, the filament attempts to transmit.
A character monitoring the infirmary equipment can attempt a DC 15 Computers check.
- Critical Success: Block the pulse and gain 1 Treatment Point.
- Success: Block the pulse.
- Failure: The safehouse gains 1 Trace.
- Critical Failure: Gain 2 Trace.
At 3 Trace, Helix Meridian identifies the general region around Point Lotious. This does not immediately reveal the safehouse but increases Network Heat at the beginning of Act 2.
Success
At 5 Treatment Points, the party can remove or disable the filament.
Doctor Vale stores the intact device in a shielded container. It contains partial records showing that Helix Meridian has implanted similar trackers in other prisoners and corporate laborers.
Failure
At 3 Trauma, Joren begins crashing. Doctor Vale completes the operation, but Joren survives with lasting nerve damage.
The filament is destroyed, preventing the party from studying or reusing it.
Optional Choice
The party can deliberately allow one final transmission while feeding the implant false coordinates.
This requires a DC 17 Computers check.
On a success, Helix Meridian dispatches a search team to an abandoned mining complex several kilometers away. On a critical failure, the corporation gains a much more accurate trace on Point Lotious.
Rewards
| Accomplishment | Reward |
|---|---|
| Save Joren and neutralize the tracker | 30 XP story award |
| Remove the filament without reaching 2 Trauma | 10 XP |
| Successfully transmit false coordinates | 20 XP |
| Preserve the tracker for study | Evidence 1 |
| Complete the mission | Doctor Vale provides two common medical consumables |
Act 2 Benefit
If the tracker is removed before transmitting, reduce starting Network Heat by 1.
If the false transmission succeeds, the party gains a temporary advantage when traveling away from Point Lotious.
Sidequest 2 — The Underworks Are Thirsty
Locations: Scrap Mechanic, Power Room, Water Recycler Primary Focus: Crafting, Computers, Athletics Recommended Level: 1 Expected Length: 45–60 minutes
Hook
The arrival of the party, the twins, and the surviving Rooks pushes the safehouse beyond its intended capacity.
The lights begin dimming. Water pressure drops to a trickle. The ventilation fans slow enough for ash to creep through the intake filters.
The safehouse mechanic, Orrin Pike, explains that all three failures are connected.
“The recycler needs the pump. The pump needs the generator. The generator needs a coolant regulator that became scrap twenty years ago.”
Point Lotious has enough stored power to maintain two of the following systems, but not all three:
- Water purification
- Ventilation and life support
- Long-range communications
Unless the party repairs the old ore-lift power junction, one system must remain offline.
Route Through the Safehouse
| Area | Problem |
|---|---|
| Scrap Mechanic | Locate or construct a replacement regulator |
| Power Room | Install the regulator and stabilize the generator |
| Water Recycler | Restart the pump and clear the contaminated intake |
| Service Conduit | Repair the connection between all three systems |
Phase 1 — Find a Replacement
Orrin has several possible regulator components, but none is complete.
The party must gain 3 Fabrication Points.
| Approach | Check | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Sort compatible components | DC 15 Crafting check | Gain 1 Fabrication Point |
| Search old mining records | DC 15 Computers check | Gain 1 Fabrication Point |
| Recover a heavy coil from the ore-lift remnant | DC 15 Athletics check | Gain 1 Fabrication Point |
| Adapt a weapon battery or vehicle component | DC 17 Crafting check | Gain 2 points, but consumes the component |
| Ask the twins to stabilize the magnetic coil | DC 15 Crafting or Occultism check | Gain 1 point; critical failure causes a power surge |
Phase 2 — Generator Restart
Installing the regulator requires three simultaneous tasks:
- Hold the magnetic coupling in place.
- Synchronize the generator controls.
- Vent excess heat.
The group attempts three checks:
- DC 15 Athletics check
- DC 15 Computers check
- DC 15 Crafting check
Each success stabilizes one system. A critical success can compensate for one failed check.
If two or more checks fail, the generator starts but overloads the water system.
Phase 3 — Contaminated Intake
The water recycler has drawn metallic ash and biological waste into its intake chamber.
Characters entering the chamber must deal with slippery surfaces, poor visibility, and contaminated water.
Possible solutions include:
- Clear the intake manually with a DC 15 Athletics check.
- Flush the obstruction using a DC 15 Crafting check.
- Reverse the pump through the control system with a DC 17 Computers check.
- Identify and isolate contamination with a DC 15 Medicine or Survival check.
- Use a controlled kinetic resonance pulse to force the obstruction free.
A failure exposes the acting character to contaminated water. The character attempts a DC 15 Fortitude save or becomes sickened 1.
Complication — Maintenance Crawlers
If the party makes two critical failures during the sidequest, several damaged maintenance crawlers activate inside the service conduit.
The crawlers do not need to become a full combat encounter. They can be:
- Destroyed normally.
- Shut down with Computers.
- Trapped behind a pressure door.
- Reprogrammed to clean the water intake.
- Used as replacement parts.
If run as combat, use a Low-threat encounter appropriate to the party.
The Power Decision
If the repair succeeds, all systems return to normal.
If it fails, the party must choose one system to shut down until replacement parts can be obtained.
| Disabled System | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Water Recycler | Supplies at Point Lotious last only three days |
| Ventilation | Safehouse occupants become fatigued during extended stays |
| Long-Range Comms | The Rooks lose contact with outside cells |
| Defensive Sensors | Point Lotious becomes easier to approach undetected |
Rewards
| Accomplishment | Reward |
|---|---|
| Restore all three primary systems | 40 XP story award |
| Complete repairs without consuming valuable equipment | 10 XP |
| Reprogram the maintenance crawlers | 20 XP |
| Fully purify the contaminated water | 10 XP |
| Recover ore-lift engineering records | +1 circumstance bonus to one future transit repair challenge |
Services Unlocked
After completion, Orrin Pike can provide:
- Equipment repair
- Battery recharging
- Basic weapon maintenance
- Identification of technological items
- Installation of common upgrades when parts are available
The water station can also refill the party’s environmental protection and emergency water supplies before they leave Point Lotious.
Sidequest 3 — The Dead Channel
Location: Comms Room Primary Focus: Computers, investigation, signal deception Recommended Level: 1 Expected Length: 30–45 minutes
Hook
The Point Lotious communications array receives a brief transmission on a Tamsin Rook emergency frequency.
The message contains only six words:
“Black sky. Broken crown. Rooks scattered.”
The transmission repeats every forty-seven seconds. No identification code accompanies it.
Comms operator Nia Sol cannot determine whether the message came from a surviving Rook cell, a Helix Meridian trap, or an automated beacon.
The signal is growing weaker.
What the Message Means
“Black sky” identifies Daegox-4.
“Broken crown” is an old Tamsin Rook emergency phrase indicating that a leadership cell has been compromised.
“Rooks scattered” means survivors are operating without orders or a secure extraction route.
Someone is calling for help—but Helix Meridian may already be listening.
Signal Investigation
The party must identify the sender before responding.
| Investigation | Check | Information |
|---|---|---|
| Analyze transmission compression | DC 15 Computers check | The signal uses authentic but outdated Rook encryption |
| Compare the voice pattern | DC 15 Perception check | The message was assembled from several different recordings |
| Research the emergency phrase | DC 15 Society check | The code belonged to a Rook cell that disappeared six months ago |
| Examine signal distortion | DC 15 Crafting or Computers check | The transmission is bouncing through an old mining relay |
| Study its timing | DC 17 Computers check | A second hidden data packet follows each spoken message |
| Examine the hidden packet | DC 17 Computers or Thievery check | It contains partial coordinates and a Helix Meridian tracking routine |
The message is real, but Helix Meridian has attached a tracking routine to the transmission. A surviving Rook cell is attempting to make contact without realizing its signal has been compromised.
The Response Challenge
The party must send a warning without revealing Point Lotious.
They need 5 Signal Points before accumulating 3 Exposure.
| Action | Check | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Strip the corporate tracking routine | DC 15 Computers check | Gain 1 Signal Point |
| Route the response through abandoned relays | DC 15 Computers or Crafting check | Gain 1 Signal Point |
| Construct a convincing false origin | DC 15 Deception or Computers check | Gain 1 Signal Point |
| Recover the hidden coordinates | DC 17 Computers check | Gain 1 Signal Point |
| Strengthen the damaged antenna | DC 15 Crafting check | Gain 1 point and +1 to the next signal check |
| Interpret the Rook code accurately | DC 15 Society check | Gain 1 point |
| Use resonance interference to mask the reply | DC 15 Occultism or Crafting check | Gain 1 point but risks drawing attention to the twins |
A critical success earns 2 Signal Points. A critical failure adds 1 Exposure.
Complication — CUSTOS-9 Answers
After the party earns its third Signal Point, CUSTOS-9 detects their interference.
The prison intelligence enters the channel using Handler Ilex Mora’s voice.
“You have been abandoned. Return the paired anomaly subjects and your involvement will be classified as coercion rather than terrorism.”
CUSTOS-9 attempts to force the party to maintain the connection long enough to trace them.
The party can:
- Immediately terminate the transmission.
- Continue while feeding it false coordinates.
- Attempt to extract information from CUSTOS-9.
- Allow the twins to distort the signal.
- Broadcast evidence of Helix Meridian’s experiments.
Remaining connected grants a +1 circumstance bonus to the next attempt to recover corporate information but automatically increases Exposure by 1.
Success
At 5 Signal Points, the party warns the stranded Rooks and obtains their coordinates.
The survivors are hiding near an abandoned surface refinery. They cannot reach Point Lotious immediately, but they can provide intelligence about corporate patrols in Act 2.
Exposure 3
Helix Meridian narrows the transmission to the Point Lotious region.
The warning still reaches the stranded Rooks, but Network Heat increases by 1 and the safehouse must shut down long-range communications for several hours.
Optional Outcomes
The party may choose one additional objective:
| Objective | Check | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Send Helix Meridian a false safehouse location | DC 17 Deception or Computers check | Misdirect one corporate search team |
| Download part of CUSTOS-9’s pursuit map | DC 17 Computers check | Reveal a safer Act 2 route |
| Broadcast the research evidence | No check if the party has Evidence 1 | Increase public attention but also Network Heat |
| Invite the stranded Rooks to Point Lotious | No check | Gain future allies but strain safehouse supplies |
Rewards
| Accomplishment | Reward |
|---|---|
| Warn the stranded Rook cell | 30 XP story award |
| Prevent Helix Meridian from tracing Point Lotious | 20 XP |
| Recover the pursuit map | 20 XP |
| Successfully transmit false coordinates | 20 XP |
| Establish a secure channel | Gain a Tamsin Rook intelligence contact |
Act 2 Benefit
If the pursuit map is recovered, the party can learn one danger associated with each Act 2 route before choosing.
If a false safehouse location is transmitted, reduce the severity of the first pursuit complication encountered after leaving Point Lotious.
Using the Three Sidequests
The sidequests do not all need to occur immediately.
| Timing | Recommended Quest |
|---|---|
| Immediately upon arrival | A Signal Beneath the Skin |
| During the party’s first rest | The Underworks Are Thirsty |
| Before choosing an Act 2 route | The Dead Channel |
Completing all three sidequests should make Point Lotious feel like a functioning base the party helped preserve rather than a location they merely visited.
For milestone advancement, the party reaches level 2 after resting at Point Lotious and committing to an escape route. For XP advancement, these missions provide enough additional story awards to bring a party that missed optional objectives close to level 2.