Message in
a Bottle

Run the maze

New module preparation · about 60–90 minutes · four Seasoned heroes. The original outline supplied the labyrinth and revelations, but left its rules open. This edition expands the earlier module’s five-node route. No real Thompson Center floor plan is implied. Give the players the route sketch below; hiding navigation is not the challenge.

The departure board reads CHICAGO / CHICAGO / CHICAGO. Beneath each destination is a different date. A loudspeaker apologizes for a delay in the processing of your existence.

Objective: leave with the seam diagram and the old Chicago Cyclotron route. Along the way, choose whether to rescue travelers, interrupt the shaking feed and challenge the sale. These choices change the next encounter.

Route sketch

Maze Shift · 0 / 4
□ 1 · delay   □ 2 · warning   □ 3 · approaching   □ 4 · security arrives once

A · Ticket Hall → B or C. B · Elven Departures → A or D. C · Municipal Records → A or D. D · Weatherization → B, C or E. E · Control Seam → D or the cyclotron exit. All connections work both ways until the party takes the exit. Doors change their appearance, never their printed connections.

Each move takes one exploration beat: enough time to cross a corridor and have a scene. No navigation roll is required. On entering a room, describe its clue, exits and visible obstacle before asking for a decision. Returning to a room does not reset completed work.

Maze Shift · four boxes

Start at 0. Add 1 when the party repeats an already used connection without a changed plan, or knowingly accepts a delay to gain something. Warn them before either cost. A failed optional check also offers a choice: take 1 Shift and finish the attempt, or leave that optional benefit behind. Never charge both costs for the same event.

At 2, announce security over the loudspeaker. At 4, two custodians arrive at the party’s current room. Trigger this once; no endless reinforcements. They ask the visitors to return to Ticket Hall. They neither remove clues nor seal the cyclotron exit. Calder’s key (if its one use remains), a transit badge or a successful Persuasion check at TN 4 buys enough time to pass. Alternatively, use Stealth opposed by their Notice, distract them with a Test, or fight. They withdraw when one falls or a valid release order is presented.

A · Ticket Hall

A ticket dispenser prints the party’s names followed by “contents.” The bronze directory names Municipal Records and Elven Departures. Its service strip labels Weatherization and Control Seam; reveal the complete route sketch now.

A turnstile wants an eligible applicant. Calder’s auction key opens it without a roll, once, at any room. Otherwise sign as “authorized maintenance.” Persuasion or Electronics at TN 4 opens the turnstile; failure uses the Shift choice above. The label changes, not the heroes’ legal identity. A broad emergency walkway remains available with 1 warned Shift. The scene cannot trap the party outside the adventure.

Clue: a receipt separates “beneficiary” from “registered bidder.” Whoever profited from buying the election did not need to be the eligible purchaser.

B · Elven Departures

An airport gate overlaps an office waiting room. Three travelers have boarding passes but no stable destination. Their luggage keeps reappearing at the wrong end of the corridor. They are frightened people, not combatants.

Spend one warned delay to escort them to a stable stairwell: add 1 Shift, no roll, and gain a transit badge. Athletics, Electronics or a credible magical approach at TN 4 can stabilize the gate quickly instead; failure offers the usual choice. The badge admits the party past the custodians once and marks a safe evacuation path at the cyclotron. Record Travelers helped.

Clue: the departure desk lists Chicago as a single auction lot. A traveler remembers Up boarding a higher-dimensional cruise before his accidental death. This corroborates an accident, not a murder plot. Leaving the travelers behind does not conceal the lot number.

C · Municipal Records

Inez, or an unnamed estate clerk if Inez is elsewhere, shelters behind filing cabinets while invoices rain upward. Give the heroes the estate ledger immediately. Research at TN 4 finds a certified extract; failure costs time or leaves them with an ordinary copy. Both contain the essential facts.

Ledger handout: “Estate of Up: disposition following accidental death. Lot: Chicago. Beneficiary: Calder. Bidder: eligible intermediary. Compensation retained by intermediary: observation and shaking rights.” The Keeper’s proper name is blank unless your table has selected it. This proves the auction, straw buyer and payment without inventing the still-unknown origin of Calder’s technology.

The clerk can issue a temporary preservation order if the heroes show the repair invoices, the lot receipt or testimony from the travelers. No roll with evidence; Persuasion at −2 without it. Failure offers a warned delay for the clerk to find the receipt. Record Preservation order: cancel the first scheduled shake in Session 5 and release the maze custodians. It suspends harmful handling; it does not revoke the entire sale or skip the campaign’s escape.

D · Weatherization Floor

Behind a door labeled “Seasonal Maintenance,” a municipal switchboard sends tremors to a snow-globe handling apparatus. Every shake generates a repair authorization for Calder’s firm. The next shake is visibly scheduled for the cyclotron’s second activation round.

An adjacent hero can disconnect the remote feed with Electronics or Repair at TN 4. Success records Feed cut. Failure offers 1 Shift for a slower manual disconnect, or leaves the feed intact. Cutting it cancels the same scheduled shake as the preservation order; the benefits do not stack. The beam’s own earthquake clock remains active.

An old service diagram shows a cyclotron hall stitched into the boundary from a remembered Chicago. Show the diagram even if the heroes leave the switchboard alone. They can smash the feed’s labeled breakaway relay instead: Toughness 6, any attack dealing 6 damage disables it, no Wounds or Soak. The noisy act adds 1 warned Shift. Custodians protect staff and the relay rather than trying to kill the heroes.

E · Control Seam

The atrium’s reflection contains a fine crack. A brass map traces it to the old Chicago Cyclotron, while the service lift opens onto its reconstructed high bay. Give the heroes a copy of the seam diagram and point out the sheltered lift, an exposed loading apron and the platform that can cross the seam.

The repossessor appears on a terminal to offer a service contract: stop the shakes in exchange for accepting the inventory classification. Accepting gives the same canceled round-2 shake as a preservation order; record that benefit once. It also gives the repossessor a contract to cite in Session 7, not mind control or automatic obedience. Negotiation is optional and separate from the custodian fight. It admits that the intermediary was paid in shaking rights. No roll forces the heroes to sign. Rejecting it keeps the existing exit open.

Outcome: the diagram grants one lead calibration roll +2 in Session 5. Bring forward Travelers helped, Preservation order and Feed cut. If the party is tired or fleeing security, use the marked service lift directly: they still get the diagram; unresolved security adds the two contractors to round 3, with no additional maze fight. If the party pursues cancellation as a larger campaign solution, explain the temporary order’s limit and keep that legal adventure open as a table expansion.

Offline reference: both expanded encounters. New procedures are unplaytested module additions, based on the campaign outline and earlier module preparation.

Run the old cyclotron

New module preparation · about 60–90 minutes · four Seasoned heroes. The old Chicago Cyclotron is now the selected location. This encounter supplies previously unfinished checks, pressure thresholds and branches. It is an unplaytested adventure variant of a SWADE Dramatic Task, not a reproduction of the core procedure.

The real UChicago cyclotron was completed in 1951, decommissioned in 1972 and had its magnet moved away. This adventure restores the old hall and machine through a dimensional overlap; its seam-breaking beam is fictional. Historical source: University of Chicago.

The magnet fills a hall that should no longer contain it. Hand-painted panel numbers glow through newer walls. Beyond the loading doors, Chicago hangs in glass. Dr. Vale points to a maintenance platform: “That goes through. The city stays. We need the shot to know the difference.”

Put these things on the table

Use dice or paper to record the tracks; the printed boxes below are reminders. For a different party size, choose the scaled target before initiative.

Objective: tune and fire the machine at the ownership seam, then cross on the service platform. Announce the 12-token target, four-round deadline, six-box Earthquake Pressure clock, cover and evacuation options before dealing initiative. Start both tracks at 0. Do not secretly alter their thresholds.

Five zones: sheltered control booth; power racks; magnet/containment floor; civilian loading apron; service platform. The booth connects to the racks and apron. The racks connect to the magnet. The apron and magnet each connect to the platform. Each adjacent transition is 4 tabletop inches; use normal movement and running. Booth, apron stairwell and racks’ marked shield alcove protect against the quake pulse. The magnet floor and platform are exposed. There is no compulsory damage just for entering the hall.

1. Control booth · calibrationTo racks or apron · sheltered
2. Power racks · currentTo booth or magnet · shield alcove
3. Magnet floor · containmentTo racks or platform · exposed
4. Loading apron · civiliansTo booth or platform · sheltered stairwell
5. Service platform · crossingTo apron or magnet · exposed

Four civilian technicians wait on the apron, plus Dr. Vale, who explains the diagram and points out a spare battery for the leeches. Treat each technician as an Extra: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d4, Vigor d6; Athletics d4, Notice d6, Repair d4; Pace 6, Parry 2, Toughness 5; no armor or weapon. Their player-directed turns can move them into cover. They do not earn beam tokens. Dr. Vale can Support one hero per round with their listed skills; they never complete the machine for the party.

Task actions · 12 tokens in four rounds

Deal initiative normally. Each hero may attempt one task action on their turn; other actions use the core multi-action penalty. Task rolls use TN 4, normal Wild Dice, Acing and Bennies. A success earns 1 token, plus 1 per raise. Track the job beside each token. The shot needs at least 2 calibration, 2 power and 2 containment tokens within the total, so announce any missing job aloud. Two heroes can work the same job by describing separate stations.

• Calibration · control booth: Electronics or Science interprets the seam. Research can use the annotated diagram. Spend the maze diagram for +2 to one lead calibration roll; Support bonuses still follow the core cap.
• Power · racks: Repair or Electronics routes current. Athletics can seat a heavy coupling. Mark’s optional NPC profile uses Electronics d8 for this job. If a player controls him, use the skill agreed for their existing sheet; no automatic success is granted.
• Containment · magnet floor: Repair aligns the shutters, Electronics closes a feedback loop, or Athletics braces the labeled external lever. The mechanic concerns imaginary seam containment, not operating a real accelerator.

Use core Support: a helper improves a lead roll instead of earning separate tokens. Fighting enemies, evacuation and relieving pressure earn no task tokens. A plausible different skill can work when the player names a concrete job; settle its suitability and any −2 penalty before rolling.

Club complication — this encounter’s custom override: a hero with a Club action card takes −2 on their lead task roll. On failure, add 1 Pressure. A critical failure on any lead task roll also adds 1 Pressure; never charge twice for a Club critical failure. Failure earns no tokens. These failures do not immediately end the whole encounter. Combat and non-task actions do not gain this Club penalty. Follow the core rules for Support and Joker benefits.

Other useful actions

Evacuate: an adjacent hero spends an action at the apron to guide all four technicians into the sheltered stairwell, with no roll. If the maze travelers were helped, the marked route lets a hero do this from the booth by intercom instead. Civilians can also move themselves; a Persuasion Support action can help a frightened technician’s recovery if needed. Record who remains exposed, not an abstract casualty count.

Bleed pressure: an adjacent hero at the racks makes Repair or Electronics at TN 4 as an action. Success removes 1 Pressure, minimum 0, once per round for the whole party. This earns no tokens and does not suffer the task’s Club penalty. Critical failure adds 1 Pressure. Show the cost: one less action spent tuning the shot.

Hold the door: contractors can be persuaded to evacuate with a credible safe route and a Persuasion roll opposed by their Spirit. They leave if half their crew falls. Fighting, grappling, Tests, barricades and battery bait all work under their listed rules. None is a required kill.

Four rounds of pressure

Resolve events at the start of each numbered round. New opponents receive normal initiative cards that round. Resolve quake pressure after all turns, then check for the shot. Stop hostile reinforcements when the seam opens.

• Round 1: the floor vibrates. Vale demonstrates the jobs and announces the remote shake scheduled for round 2. No enemies arrive.
• Round 2: two rift leeches emerge by the power racks. If neither Feed cut nor Preservation order was earned, the remote shake adds 1 Pressure now. With either benefit, it is canceled. Leeches try to attach to cables; they do not instantly shut the whole machine off.
• Round 3: two contractors enter the apron unless the heroes secured their cooperation before activation. They try to reach the booth and stop the firing, using their ordinary movement and actions. A preserved evacuation route gives the heroes something concrete to offer them.
• Round 4: warn that the overlap is closing. No new enemies. Tell the players their token totals, missing jobs, Pressure and who is exposed before their last turns.

At each round’s end, add 1 Pressure. Whenever Pressure reaches 6, resolve one quake pulse immediately: every exposed person rolls Agility at TN 4; success gets them behind nearby debris unharmed, failure deals 2d6 damage through the core damage/armor rules. Sheltered people are safe. Then reset Pressure to 3; continue the round or shot check. The pulse damages the hall, not automatically all of Chicago. If an Extra is Incapacitated, use the table’s normal survival ruling; rescue remains possible. Never narrate mandatory deaths as a fixed ending.

Fire, overload or withdraw

12 or more tokens, with all three job minima: at the end of that round, offer the clean shot. No extra secret roll. The seam opens; the service platform carries the heroes outside while Chicago stays in place. Fire earlier than round 4 if ready. All unspent pressure is discharged safely.

8–11 tokens with all job minima at the end of round 4: offer a rough shot or withdrawal. The rough shot opens the seam but triggers one quake pulse using the procedure above, even below Pressure 6. Shelter or move civilians before choosing. Do not charge a second pulse if one already happened at that round’s end. The platform loses its crane and supplies, but keeps everyone who boarded it; it is salvageable in Session 6.

Fewer than 8 tokens, or a missing job: there is no tuned shot. Offer an emergency overload or a safe abort. The overload opens the seam, triggers the same single quake pulse and wrecks the reconstructed machine. It also loses the platform’s supplies and gives the party a damaged vessel to repair in Session 6. It does not arbitrarily kill sheltered civilians or move all of Chicago.

Abort: cut the power as an action at booth or racks, no roll. The overlap holds as a safe service passage; evacuate under the remaining enemies’ normal actions. Tokens are lost. A successful Repair action recovers a portable feed and permits a new attempt after a salvage scene; the next attempt resets tokens and Pressure and uses the same four-round clock, with enemies already defeated or persuaded staying resolved. Without the feed, Vale points to a replacement coupling in Weatherization. Aborting postpones the crossing; it does not force the heroes adrift against their decision.

After any chosen shot, describe glass becoming a horizon, then go to Session 6. Carry forward rescued technicians, any damaged platform and their relationships. The new edition chooses Chicago stays / heroes become adrift, a branch the original outline allowed but had not fixed. The later freedom and homecoming remain the intended destination.

Cyclotron · installation stat block

Custom device / environmental hazard; neither a Wild Card nor an Extra. No Attributes, Wild Die, Bennies, Wounds or Soak. It does not attack or take a turn. It uses the token and Pressure procedures above.

Breakaway relay: Toughness 6; any attack dealing at least 6 damage breaks it. This stops the remote shake if broken before round 2, but leaves the local clock active.

Containment controls: Toughness 8; one hit dealing at least 8 damage disables that station, no raises or Wounds required. Calibration and power remain available; Repair at TN 4 restores the controls with an action, no token earned. Explain this consequence before a hero targets them. Cover protects technicians and controls under the core combat rules. Ordinary attacks cannot tune the seam by damaging the magnet.

Shutdown switch: reachable from booth or racks; one adjacent action aborts safely.

Service platform: holds the whole party and rescued technicians; no capacity puzzle or piloting roll for this crossing. For later voyages, choose its operating skill with the table before Session 6.

Adjust for your party

Scale: three heroes use 9 total tokens; five use 15; six use 18, always four rounds and 2 tokens per job. For three heroes, a rough shot requires 6–8 tokens; for five, 10–14; for six, 12–17. A clean shot always requires the scaled target and all job minima. For three heroes remove one leech and one contractor. Do not increase quake damage or its threshold with party size. Novice parties can use 9 tokens with the reduced opposition; imported powerful heroes require table tuning.

Rift leech · Extra stat block

Same profile as the roster’s rift leech; repeated here for play.

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4 (animal), Spirit d6, Strength d4, Vigor d4.

Skills: Athletics d8, Fighting d6, Notice d6, Stealth d8.

Derived: Pace 6 flying / 2 crawling; Parry 5; Toughness 4; Size 0; no armor, Edges or Hindrances.

Attack: Bite: Strength+d4, melee. No Wild Die; a Wound normally Incapacitates it.

Cable latch — custom: an adjacent leech spends an action attaching to one live feed cable. That cable’s power job is unavailable until a hero removes it with an Athletics or Repair action at TN 4, defeats it, or places a spare battery within 2 inches and spends an action luring it away. Two power stations exist; a second leech chooses the other cable. A latch never removes already earned tokens. The leech chooses current over people. A removed leech can be released outside instead of killed.

Offline reference: both expanded encounters. New procedures are unplaytested module additions, based on the campaign outline and earlier module preparation.