Core Campaigns

There are three default stories or campaign settings for Eclipse Phase: the Firewall investigation and containment campaign, the gatecrashing exploration campaign, and the criminal action campaign. Each of these will touch on the various Eclipse Phase themes and concepts, but usually focus on a particular range of adventures and motivations. Some stories may jump the boundaries between campaign styles; for example, criminals may lay low by gatecrashing to an exoplanet, or Firewall agents may need to establish underworld contacts to conduct a dangerous heist. Adventures may also be run independently of one another without connecting to a larger story, using either the same characters across multiple adventures or characters built specifically for that mission.

Firewall Campaign

The primary focus of Eclipse Phase is the band of clandestine operatives taking on the major threats faced by transhumanity. In this campaign, the characters work for a secret, cross-factional organization called Firewall as agents or new recruits. Firewall acts to contain and destroy x-risks that threaten the existence of transhumanity. Characters are recruited from all factions (or occasionally hired as mercenaries if the threat of extinction alone is not sufficient motivation). The PCs are issued a mission by a handler called a proxy and are the first line in investigating and stopping the threat. The situation is usually still developing, so the briefing may be missing critical details. The PCs are independent and under cover as they operate in a foreign habitat or hostile environment, dogged by local authorities. They have the discretion to act as they see fit to address the threat at hand.

Sentinels are frequently expected to sacrifice themselves, either by facing down impossible odds or by destroying themselves to prevent the spread of alien infection. When sentinels fail, the backup plan may be to destroy the entire habitat. Firewall is extreme in its measures, but if the alternative will kill millions or billions, the razing of a single habitat is an acceptable loss.

All of the sample characters and teams consist of Firewall agents. However, two teams are primarily designed for Firewall campaigns, one each for the inner and outer parts of the Solar System.

The Sunward Ops Team includes Dante, Hex, Qi, and Sava. Still kicking Martian dust off their boots, this team is experienced with planetary environments, overbearing governments, hypercorps, and the odd throw-down. In the inner system, missions feature abandoned TITAN machines, corporate machinations, and political intrigue. The big powers are the Planetary Consortium, the Morningstar Constellation claiming Venus, the conservative Lunar-Lagrange Alliance, the hypercorps, and the oligarchs spinning webs behind the scenes. Conflicts between the powers are common. Trust is hard won, when every organization is riddled with puppets and mobsters. A sharp mind and a good dose of paranoia are critical in staying alive.

Securing the big black is the Rimward Ops Team, with Chi, Killjoy, Njál, and Zahiri. Out here, habitats are usually smaller and isolated. Fading into the background may be impossible, and backup is months away. The PCs must be able to operate in whatever wild frontier or research station trouble has taken root. Far from the major powers, the rules are more flexible, but suspicious locals are quick to airlock strangers. The characters are likely to find themselves stranded in a situation far more complex than they were equipped for and forced to improvise to survive. The major factions include the Titanians, Jovians, anarchists, Ultimates, and brinkers. Outer-system missions focus more on containing infections, fighting off monstrous posthumans, investigating weird experiments, and delaying war with the Jovians.

Firewall Sunward Ops

  • Dante :: Venusian Genehacker
  • Hex :: Lunar Async Fixer
  • Qi :: Barsoomian Hacktivist
  • Sava :: Freelance Spec Ops

Firewall Rimward Ops

  • Chi :: Mindhacker & Networker
  • Killjoy :: Anarchist Troubleshooter
  • Njál :: Titanian Hacker
  • Zahiri :: Brinker Security Specialist

Gatecrashing Campaign

Gatecrashing campaigns focus on a team of explorers tasked or volunteering to go through pandora gates to remote exoplanets. Usually they are the first-in team. The space immediately around the gate is known to be survivable. For anything past ten meters, there’s no guarantee. The characters are equipped with everything they need to survive, as determined by the company’s finance department or their own crowdsourcing. Once through the gate, the PCs are expected to map the area and bring back artifacts or resource claims that will make their sponsors rich. They step through the gate knowing they’re disposable. If they become infected, they die. If they are mortally wounded from accidents or animal attacks, they die. Forget a critical tool to keep life support pumping, they die. If they’re late getting to the gate for their retrieval time, they’re trapped on an alien planet until they die. Most gatecrashers can list off dozens of corpses they’ve left to decay across the galaxy. Gatecrashers lose sleep at night knowing versions of themselves may still be trapped at some forgotten dig, alone until life support finally runs out. It’s part of the job.

Most exoplanets are uninhabited by transhumans but frequently have vibrant and hungry alien ecosystems. Alien artifacts are a rare and lucrative find. Gatecrashers also serve as a first-tier R&D team, appraising what is worth bringing back for reverse engineering, what’s worthless archeological detritus, and what’s a deadly weapon waiting to vaporize curious gatecrashing teams. Gatecrashing missions may last as little as an hour, as teams complete the first site report, or may be a permanent part of a new colony.

The team of Gatecrashing Ops is Astika, Jinx, Shrike, and Whisper. A mish-mash of backgrounds, they’re brought together by corporate fiat more than choice. Keeping a cohesive team under stress (or the promise of a larger cut) is hard, and when the bodies start falling, it’s the survivors who will give the final mission report.

Gatecrashing Ops

  • Astika :: Survival Engineer & Xeno-Archeologist
  • Jinx :: Uplift Recon Specialist
  • Shrike :: Security Contractor & Drone Operator
  • Whisper :: Async Scientist Explorer

Criminal Campaign

Sometimes the lure of adventure needs a little financial incentive. This campaign circles around a band of criminals, either independent or associated with a larger cartel, focused on amassing credits and power. Sometimes this warrants discretion, to keep assets secret and the operation protected. Other times it means de-orbiting a habitat and watching it burn on the way down. The team is focused on efficiency in profit-making.

The criminal scene has changed drastically since the Fall. Biohackers override built-in terminator genes meant to force people to pay subscription fees to keep their bodies from collapsing. Forknappers steal backups of financiers to extract passcodes. Zone stalkers flip TITAN war technology or samples of volatile exsurgent contagions for a handsome profit. Triads compete with the Night Cartel in turf wars to push their new redlining experience playbacks. In many places, the syndicates provide the only form of social services available. The triads especially smuggle medical equipment to hidden clinics and provide militias to fight against outside threats. Criminal PCs may find themselves fighting on behalf of a grassroots government against Consortium jackboots as often as lifting overpriced alien leavings from wealthy collectors.

The Criminal Guanxi Ops characters, a team brought together in the underground, are Amaru Timoti, Berk, Elis, and Pivo.

Criminal Guanxi Ops

  • Amaru Timoti :: Nine Lives Fixer
  • Berk :: Infolife Enforcer & Bot Jammer
  • Elis :: Scum Techie
  • Pivo :: Uplift Scavenger

Alternative Campaigns

The Solar System is large and full of stories. Gamemasters may wish to pursue another type of campaign altogether. Other possible campaigns include:

  • Salvage and Rescue Ops: The Fall left hundreds of abandoned craft and habitats in orbit, and the smallest objects from Earth are worth a fortune. An enterprising team willing to face TITAN war machines and hostile survivors stands to make a tidy profit.
  • Mercenary Ops: Mercs are the de-facto military for many factions, relied on extensively for espionage and deniable strikes. Mercenary work won’t necessarily be messy (although it usually is). A team of assassins who can kill the target and permanently corrupt their backups can usually name their price.
  • Researching Ops: Pursuit of knowledge can put characters right on the precipice. Thanks to cheap backups, researchers are expected to take high-risk ventures for their findings. Sample adventures include ecological surveys of Titan, xenoarcheology on dead planets, SETI programs on isolated brinker habitats, or reverse engineering pandora gates to alter space and time.
  • Political Ops: Many polities seem to loathe their own citizens. Bigotry and state violence are common. Those individuals who take a stand against oppression risk permanent erasure. Political activists dive deep into entangling alliances and buried corpses. Guerrilla artists, journalists, and resistance fighters work to undermine their governments and sabotage brutal state actions. Coordinating with outside factions to secure allies and resources is a necessary evil.
  • Earth Survival Ops: The characters have been left behind. During the exodus, they were not able to escape the planet and were unlucky enough to survive the fallout. Now they must dodge TITAN war machines, radiation zones, and a weather system gone mad.