Mu in hopes of regaining contact with the Initiative It may later return to the group’s community to scout the area for Phoenix Whatever brings them to Station Mu, the heroes need to find the door and open it, both of these are difficult since the station was designed to be concealed, and the mechanisms controlling the door are damaged If they are in radio contact with Phoenix, it informs them of the broken door, and suggests ways to help bypass this Talking to Phoenix over the radio grants a bonus to the Perception and Disable Device checks they need to find and open the door (see below) To further complicate matters, the Phoenix station is in the territory of the Ligfor band of the Axe Tribe, who are not thrilled to see the group poking about haunted ruins Characters who search the hex containing Station Mu can make a DC 20 Perception check to find the entrance (if they are in contact with Phoenix they have a +5 bonus to this check) If not, the heroes spend a day searching the hex in vain Once they have located the doors, they must find a way to open them They first need to disengage the locks; this requires either a Disable Device or Craft (mechanical) check with a DC of 20 (they again have a +5 bonus if communicating with the Phoenix) Once they succeed, they must make a DC 20 Strength check to actually move the heavy blast doors Heroes who want to force their way through the blast doors have a very challenging task They have a hardness of 15 and 120 hp Once PCs get the doors open, they are free to explore the station If they are in contact with Phoenix it directs them to the main computer lab In the computer lab, Phoenix introduces itself and explains one version of its identity: an intelligent computer program created to help those who survived the apocalypse (It doesn’t mention anything about nuclear retaliation.) It states that it can help the group greatly, but it requires their help as well Much of the facility has deteriorated due to neglect, and Phoenix lacks the ability to make repairs If the characters agree, this begins Rebuilding Mu If the heroes refuse, Phoenix insists, and threatens them with the three lynx drones it still controls If they still refuse, the drones attack If the drones win, they bring any survivors to the medical chamber and implant them with pain chips Phoenix controls the pain chips, and activates them any time the heroes disobey it If the heroes defeat the lynx drones, Phoenix copies its program to the hummingbird drone and attempts to flee and locate another functioning Phoenix station Pain Chip: Pain chips are small microchips that are implanted in subjects’ brains When they activate, the subjects must each make a DC 18 Fortitude save or be dazed for one round and take 3d6 points of nonlethal damage The pain chip automatically deactivates itself when the host is unconscious A1: Phoenix Station Mu Hidden: Perception DC 20 Population: Salvage Value: (6 if the lift is repaired); max 60 Buildings: Clinic, Houses (2), Library, Nuclear Reactor Ruined Building: Machine Shop Just before the Great War, the Phoenix Initiative created several research stations and outposts; all buried secretly below the earth Station Mu is located deep in the northern woods of what was once Minnesota Station Mu was intended to work as a backup station, in case some of the other facilities perished in the nuclear attack As such, it houses a range of Phoenix technologies, including the Extreme Radiation Resistance treatment, anti-radiation drugs, and advanced robotics Most importantly, it houses a backup copy of the Phoenix Intelligence When the Great War struck, the Phoenix activated, but due to the loss of infrastructure it was unable to carry out its mission Thus it has existed in the slowly degrading computer systems for decades It has evolved beyond its original purpose and controls the still-operable portions of the facility Medical Wing: Phoenix Station Mu was equipped with an extremely advanced medical facility, including a wide assortment of medications stored in an airtight environment and computeraided scanning and diagnostic equipment (equipment Phoenix can control) Characters who make use of the medical wing gain a +5 to Healing checks, and recover twice the normal number of hit points from natural healing However if a character is healed using this equipment while Phoenix is online, it secretly implants a pain chip in the character (see 79) Scrap: The medical storage is a treasure trove to those who know what they’ve got It holds everything from painkillers to chemotherapy drugs to cutting edge super drugs In all, the mundane drugs are worth 4,000 tp, or if they donate them to their community, it counts as BP if put towards a clinic or hospital The stash also includes the following super drugs: 10 doses of HealUp I (cure light wounds), doses of HealUp II (cure moderate wounds), doses of HealUp III (cure serious wounds), doses of Quix (expeditious retreat), doses of Buff (bull’s strength), and doses of Vroom (haste) Extreme Radiation Resistance Treatment Center: This section of the complex contains medical equipment for monitoring vital signs and administering the Extreme Radiation Resistance (ERR) treatment, which is normally done by strapping a subject to a bed in a small airtight chamber The chamber is then flooded with air containing the ERR virus This wing also contains several samples of the ERR virus Most of these samples have either spoiled or ruptured, but one sample still remains viable Human characters exposed to a sufficient quantity of the virus slowly transform into freaks The next time the characters gain a level that would normally grant a feat, the characters not gain a feat, but instead they are turned into freaks Other creatures exposed to the virus might also transform at the GM’s option Central Computer: This small wing of the Phoenix station is also the most important, as it houses the Phoenix intelligence (along with other data stored in the station) The first room the heroes enter is the interface room There are six work stations around the edges of the room, projectors that can show displays on any wall, and a central table, the entire surface of which is a touch screen display Phoenix prefers to use this room to communicate with humans, even though it can speak through any functioning device in the complex and broadcast radio signals The projectors allow it to be especially dramatic 79