Copyright Ric Wood
CON/TEXT is a “a one-shot of cosmic horror for use with Mothership. A britpunk nightmare set aboard a failing research station”. Created by Ric Wood.
You’ve been sent to investigate the deep-space research station, the Lachesis. The station has been reporting system malfunctions and the crew have gone radio silent. It’s up to you to retrieve the valuable research stored there.
This blog post has a content warning for implied torture and implied execution. The module itself has other content warnings, but I will not touch on any of that material here.
There are no spoilers for CONT/EXT in this post.
As written, the players in CONT/EXT are balancing retrieving very valuable data discs against their own lives. However, in a one-shot I did not think that credits would be sufficient incentive for the characters to go into extremely dangerous environments. “Why not just leave?”
Ric writes in his blog post “The Shiftless Horror of Mothership” about the horror of institutions: that they are inevitable, utilitarian and implacable. So combining what I know about CONT/EXT with Charles Stross’ The Laundry Files, I present a table of alternative “rewards” for CONT/EXT:
OVERSIGHT
At end of session, roll Xd10 and take the highest result to see how CONT/EXT OVERSIGHT rewards you, where X is the number of gold laser discs recovered. If you have recovered none, roll d6.
| 1 | Congratulations! You have been enrolled in the test regime for project BANE SEVERE. You will now be escorted through the instantaneous transportation device code-named "HELL BLACK 8". [Operative reported MIA to next of kin]. |
| 2 | Congratulations! Your experiences were very interesting to CONT/EXT. The contents of your skull are now more valuable that your future contributions. Please report to Operative Recycling. [Operative reported MIA to next of kin]. |
| 3 | Congratulations! You have been promoted to Ossueous Material mining worker (Rank H) and will be transferred to classified operational site SKULL NIGHT V. [Projected lifespan.............4 months]. |
| 4 | Congratulations! You have been promoted to Biolab 4 (Test Subject: Mutagens Project). [Projected lifespan.............11 months]. |
| 5 | Congratulations! We have a quiet recovery assignment for you in the Archive, reviewing psycho-visual tapes found at site BLEAK NIGHT. [Warning: exposure to BLEAK NIGHT tapes has been associated with an 65% risk of psychosis, involuntary prophecy and brain death. You agreement to these risks has been pre-approved by your line manager.] |
| 6 | Congratulations! You leave for your next mission in T-47 hours. Please commit a full debrief from the Lachesis to tape in case your recovery is deemed uneconomic. |
| 7 | Congratulations! You have been promoted to Emergency Operative Rank B. You will receive 1 month of training and downtime before your next mission. |
| 8 | Congratulations! You have been promoted to Emergency Operative Rank A. You will receive 3 months of training and downtime before your next mission, and will not be considered fully expendable during Operative Mission assignment. |
| 9 | Congratulations! You have been promoted to Research & Operations Planning, a back-office role classified as MHSC [Glossary: Medium-High survivability chance]. Your first assignment will be to assess the research brought back by your team from the Lachesis. |
| 10+ | Report on Operative [REDACTED]: They appear to have left the organisation, despite their knowledge of classified events on the Lachesis. Their retirement was approved by someone in senior management, but I have been unable to determine who --K.V. |
Agendas
With the updated OVERSIGHT system we can give the agendas real bite. Who can blame you for the betraying your friends when even completing the mission well is no guarantor of success?
You can either roll d6, in which everyone has a secret objective; or roll d10 for a little less infighting.
| 1 | You have been transferred from Colonial Reclamation Projects (CRP) to CONT/EXT. CRP has a significant investment in the Lachesis. As a CRP employee, your priority is to ensure nothing happens to the research station. So long as this agenda is fulfilled you have a 50% chance that CRP can recover you and return you to your normal life before OVERSIGHT get to you. |
| 2 | You work for CONT/EXT - but also for Simon. Simon calls you and tells what to do. CONT/EXT doesn’t know about Simon. You don’t know anything else about Simon. Simon says you must destroy all the research on the Lachesis. He can pull strings at CONT/EXT for you. For every disc that you destroy (gold or silver) gain +1 on your OVERSIGHT rolls. |
| 3 | Your employer is highly placed in CONT/EXT and she suspects your colleagues have been compromised by factions she distrusts within the organisation. For every person you kill (from your team, or survivors on the Lachesis), gain +2 on your OVERSIGHT rolls. |
| 4 | Your employer in CONT/EXT tells you that a very important android agent, Caddox, is at the station. You are to report to Caddox and seek further orders. If Caddox approves of you at the end of the mission, gain +2 on OVERSIGHT rolls. |
| 5 | Your employer is highly placed in CONT/EXT and is frustrated with the risks his colleagues are taking. No one wants see another green plague or sterilised colony. Destroy the station to ensure nothing can get out. If you succeed: +2 on OVERSIGHT rolls. |
| 6 | A loved one was aboard the Clotho, the disastrous predecessor to the Lachesis, when it was destroyed. You’ve always suspected it was sabotage, and you’re here to find proof. |
| 7+ | No special orders. |