For this second look at Techno-Fantasy Adventure 2E, I let the campaign-generation tables build the adventure. No carefully planted plot, no hand-picked enemy force - just the dice and a little interpretation.
The result is a tense raid aboard a dead ship, with forbidden plans, Imperial Questioners, and one very old security drone.
The rolls
- Motivation: 24 - Excavation
- Location: 4 - Ship Interior
- Opposition: 1, then 3 - Law Enforcement: Questioner Agents
- Encounter balance: 1 - add one PL 3 enemy
- Subplot: 23 - Criminal
- Weird Event: 63 - Animate Drone
- Objective token: 4, then 2 - a lost data drive containing Necro-Station Plans
The Ghost Archive
A drifting survey vessel called the Vigilant Sorrow has been found in the debris belt beyond a forgotten moon. Its crew vanished generations ago, but its last data burst mentioned a “Necro-Station” - a sealed orbital archive built to preserve the minds, bodies, or perhaps souls of a dead civilization.
The crew has entered the wreck looking for the plans that reveal the station’s location. Unfortunately, the Imperium has sent Questioner Agents after the same prize.
Perhaps the plans identify forbidden ruins. Perhaps they contain names that should have remained buried. Or perhaps one of the crew recognizes the ship’s registry number from an old criminal job and knows exactly why the Questioners are so interested.
Setting the table
Use a 2' x 2' or 3' x 3' board as the interior of the *Vigilant Sorrow*. Place five distinct searchable locations:
- The shattered docking lock.
- A cargo hold full of sealed funerary containers.
- The bridge and its dead navigation consoles.
- A damaged reactor gallery crossed by a narrow gantry.
- The central archive chamber.
Add crates, bulkheads, loaders, terminals, cables, and broken service drones as scatter terrain. The crew begins in cover in one corner. The Questioners begin in cover in the opposite corner.
To locate the Necro-Station Plans, a character must enter a searchable location and make the required search attempt. Failed locations are crossed off. If every earlier location has been searched unsuccessfully, the final location contains the drive.
Once recovered, the data drive must be carried carefully; its bearer cannot make a Charge or Sprint. At the end of Round 6, a third force arrives - perhaps Imperial reinforcements, perhaps the ship’s awakening defense system - and the battle ends. The crew wins by holding the drive at that point.
The opposition
Use the Questioner Agents as the core force:
- Head Interrogator - PL 4
- Questioner Enforcer - PL 3
- Two Questioner Agents - PL 2 each
- A second Questioner Enforcer - the randomly generated PL 3 reinforcement
That is a serious force, which feels right: the Questioners are not here to investigate a minor theft. They know the archive matters.
If your crew is still new, keep the same premise but remove the bonus Enforcer. The dice produced the harder encounter; the campaign system is meant to be adjusted to the power of the actual crew.
The Criminal subplot
Before the battle, choose the crew member best suited to the Criminal subplot. Their check represents a contact, old piece of knowledge, forged access code, or remembered smuggling route through the ship.
A success gives the party a small pool of extra Luck for this battle. It is a simple mechanic, but it makes the crew’s backgrounds matter before anyone fires a shot.
Weird Event: Animate Drone
A dormant maintenance drone is hidden somewhere on the wreck.
Any character can try to wake it with a difficult INT check. If successful, the drone can be sent crashing into an enemy anywhere on the board - no line of sight required.
That creates a wonderful little choice: does the crew spend a precious action searching for the plans, fighting the Questioners, or trying to turn the ship itself into an ally?
Why this is a good TFA 2E adventure
A few dice created a complete situation:
- a clear objective;
- an evocative battlefield;
- an enemy force with a reason to be there;
- a personal hook for one character;
- and an unpredictable element that neither side fully controls.
The Ghost Archive could be a one-off game, but it also makes an excellent first chapter in a campaign. If the crew escapes with the plans, the next adventure might be a race to reach the Necro-Station. If the Questioners take them, the crew may need to steal the information back - or learn why the Imperium feared it.
Foe Sheet
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