Space fantasy where magic meets technology. Command a starship, explore uncharted worlds, negotiate with space pirates, and uncover a conspiracy that stretches across the galaxy — all powered by 5e rules.
Story Arcs
The Lost Cargo
The party's ship is hired to find a missing cargo shipment, leading them into a web of piracy, alien intrigue, and a mysterious patron whose motives are far from transparent. What was in that cargo, and why does everyone want it so badly?
The Patron's Secret
The cargo contained fragments of an ancient alien superweapon. The patron who hired the party is racing to assemble it before a rival faction does. The party must choose sides — or find a way to destroy the weapon before anyone can use it.
Session Outlines
These outlines are for planning reference only. Actual sessions are not created by the template.
A Job Too Good
The party's ship is docked at Nexus Port when a mysterious patron offers a lucrative job: find a missing cargo shipment that vanished in the Drift. Introduce the ship AI, the crew dynamic, and Nexus Port's colorful characters. Captain Zara offers a lead — for a price.
Port of Thieves
The trail leads to a pirate-controlled space port. The party must negotiate with the Crimson Corsairs to learn the cargo's location. Captain Zara can introduce them, but her past with the pirates is complicated. Social encounters with combat as a fallback.
The Jungle Planet
The cargo was jettisoned on an uncharted jungle planet to avoid pirate capture. The party lands and must track it through dense alien vegetation full of hostile wildlife. The planet's ecosystem is unlike anything in known space.
The Research Station
Inside the cargo is a fragment of ancient alien technology. The patron directs the party to a decommissioned research station where it can be analyzed. But the station is not as abandoned as advertised — and the researchers left in a hurry.
Revelations
The research station's logs reveal the truth: the cargo fragment is part of an ancient superweapon, and the patron is assembling it. Meanwhile, a rival faction attacks the station. The party must fight their way out with the knowledge they've gained.
The Final Choice
The party confronts the patron at the weapon assembly site. They can help complete the weapon, destroy it, or find a third option. Multiple endings based on player choices. Space battle, boarding action, or sabotage — depending on approach.
NPCs
CASS
Construct · Ship AI
The party's ship AI, an older model with a dry wit and a tendency to state the odds of survival at inopportune moments. CASS is fiercely loyal to the crew and has been modified with personality subroutines that make her almost human. She refers to the ship as her "body."
Krix Volta
Gnome · Alien Engineer
The party's chief engineer, a gnome who speaks to machines like old friends. She can fix anything given enough time and spare parts, and she has an uncanny ability to find both. Her tools are organized in a system that makes sense only to her.
Captain Zara Blackmoon
Tiefling · Space Pirate Queen
Leader of the Crimson Corsairs, the most notorious pirate fleet in the sector. She rules through charisma rather than cruelty, and her code of honor is strict: no killing civilians, no trafficking in slaves, and always honor a deal. She has history with someone in the party.
The Architect
Human · Mysterious Patron
An enigmatic figure who communicates only through encrypted channels and proxy agents. The Architect claims to want the ancient technology for peaceful purposes, but their secrecy and resources suggest something far larger. Their true identity and motives are the central mystery.
Locations
The Starfall (Home Ship)
A modified light freighter that serves as the party's home, transport, and lifeline. The bridge seats four, the cargo bay converts to a common area, and CASS's personality fills every corridor with warmth. It's not fast or pretty, but it's home.
Nexus Port
A massive space station at the intersection of three major trade routes. Its docking rings spin slowly around a central hub of markets, cantinas, and guild offices. Every species and faction has a presence here, making it neutral ground — and a hotbed of intrigue.
Verdantis (Jungle Planet)
An uncharted world dominated by towering bioluminescent jungle. The canopy is so dense that the forest floor exists in perpetual twilight. Alien creatures the size of buildings move through the undergrowth, and the plants themselves react to disturbances.
Abandoned Research Station
A decommissioned orbital station that once housed cutting-edge research. Emergency lighting casts everything in red, and half the station has lost gravity. Lab equipment is smashed, data cores are wiped, and something is living in the ventilation system.
Quests
Find the Lost Cargo
The Architect has hired the party to locate a missing cargo shipment that disappeared in transit. The pay is extraordinary, which means the cargo is worth even more. Track it down, retrieve it, and deliver it — simple, right?
Negotiate with the Pirates
Captain Zara Blackmoon and the Crimson Corsairs control the space lanes where the cargo was last seen. Getting information from them requires either diplomacy, trade, or a job done on their behalf. Earning Zara's trust opens doors; earning her enmity closes them permanently.
Explore the Research Station
The decommissioned research station holds answers about the cargo's true nature. Navigate the damaged station, recover the research logs, and survive whatever has moved in since the scientists left.
Uncover the Patron's Secret
The Architect is hiding something. Every answer reveals three more questions. Find out who the patron really is, what the cargo truly contains, and whether helping them will save the galaxy or doom it.
Encounters
Jungle Predators
Alien beasts of the jungle planet emerge from the bioluminescent undergrowth — massive serpentine creatures with petrifying gazes adapted for hunting in the twilight beneath the canopy.
Research Station Infestation
Something has infested the abandoned research station's ventilation system — creatures that feed on thoughts, leaving their victims hollow and confused. They strike from shadows and disappear into the ductwork.
Pirate Boarding Party
A rival pirate crew boards the Starfall in a zero-gravity boarding action. They fight with magnetic boots and modified weapons, using the shifting gravity as a tactical advantage.
The Anomaly Beasts
Near the weapon assembly site, exposure to ancient alien energy has mutated local fauna into gibbering, multi-mouthed horrors that phase erratically between dimensions.
Factions
The Crimson Corsairs
Chaotic Neutral
The most powerful pirate fleet in the sector, led by Captain Zara Blackmoon. They operate under a strict code of honor and control several space lanes. They are outlaws, but they are not evil — just pragmatic about property rights.
The Architect's Network
True Neutral
A shadowy organization of agents, informants, and mercenaries working for the mysterious Architect. Their resources are vast and their reach is long, but their ultimate purpose remains unknown even to most members.
The Galactic Trade Authority
Lawful Neutral
The bureaucratic body that regulates commerce and travel between star systems. They investigate piracy, smuggling, and illegal technology. Their agents are persistent and well-equipped, if somewhat inflexible.
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