Technophobia
A downloadable Lancer module
Technophobia is a third party horror-themed module for the Lancer RPG system, intended for a party of three to five LL1–4 characters. Characters who complete this module earn one license level. In this module, the player characters (PCs) find themselves trapped by a rogue AI with the ability to manipulate electronics and machinery. Only by exploring a ghost ship, unraveling its mysteries, and confronting the AI will they escape to live another day.
In this module, you will find:
- One full-length Lancer mission supporting both on-foot and in-mech approaches to play
- An in-depth depiction of the Katabasis, a derelict freighter where a rogue AI relives her worst nightmares
- Special derelict crawl rules and procedures for exploring the Katabasis
- Combat encounters presented with tactical advice and interactive environments
- Full-color, grid-agnostic battlemaps that support both exploration and combat
- A stylized pdf created with my Lancer RPG Template and an accessible, simplified pdf for screen readers
Content Warning
Technophobia deals with themes of horror, hallucination, and kidnapping, as well as issues of mental and physical health. The module includes depictions blood and corpses. In addition, it includes scenes involving asphyxiation, claustrophobia, burning and/or freezing to death, and being stalked by murderous robots. Lastly, the module focuses upon the loss of control over one’s own tools and technology.
Licensing & Additional Information
This module references Non-Player Characters (NPCs) and sitreps from the full, paid version of the Lancer Core Book. It draws upon lore and information from The Long Rim, though the supplement is not required to run the module. Additionally, Technophobia utilizes the basic rules for Clocks and Stress introduced in Field Guide: The Karrakin Trade Baronies, reproduced with permission from Massif Press.
This work is AI-Free. It does not include content or media that was AI or Machine Generated. Supporting this work means supporting real people.
“Made By Humans” assets from the Made By Humans Asset Pack by Lone Archivist and used under CC BY 4.0.
Technophobia is not an official Lancer product; it is a third party work, and is not affiliated with Massif Press. Technophobia is published via the Lancer Third Party License.
Lancer is copyright Massif Press.
Purchase
In order to download this Lancer module you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $14.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Download demo
Development log
- v1.1 UpdateMar 19, 2025
Comments
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Cool adventure, but i'm not really sure how the players are meant to explore the ship, Do you as the GM just list off every point of interest on the map? Do you make them roll for it and give them one of them if they succeed? Do they look at the actual map and have to deduce from that, since the maps without notation of what is what are labeled as "player". One takes an action? The books lists a few examples, is finding a point of interest an action, because it describes searching an entire room as a single action... but multiple things in a room state that they take an action...or is learning them all a free action?
I know how I would / will rule on these in my own game, but I wondered what the official stance was.
Thanks for asking! I mention this under “How to Read This Module” on page 6, but basically each entry in the module has a nested list of information. The top level is obvious, and subsequent levels become more apparent as the players investigate. Should look something like this:
A1. Spooky Room
Basic descriptive info, obvious to everyone. e.g. “A dusty computer server room.”
In general, there are no skill checks or actions for investigating a room; if a player says they’re looking at something, in general they’ll just get the information. This is essential for allowing players to make informed decisions. Even for the password example I presented above, I make it clear that a password is necessary so they can go searching for one (or make some clever guesses). The only case I would make exploring a room take an action is when a player is being nonspecific about what they’re investigating. If they say “I search the room,” that’s an action. If they say “I search under the table,” that’s free and they immediately get the info underneath.
I hope this helped, and that you enjoy the module!
For bigger, open rooms (like areas B, C, and E) I would present the major headings (e.g. “B1. Hull Reach”, “B2. Gravity Generator”) as immediately visible points of interest.
The player map can be a visual aid for exploration, as well (I tried to make the important stuff shinier than the rest).
Oh I see, I did not understand that the initial line, about how to read this module, was describing the initial text. I thought it was just a description for the bullet points underneath it. So I failed to grasp that the non bulleted text at the top is meant to be given to the players immediately.
That does clear things up a bit, thank you!
This seems like a quality adventure and a great challenge for me - I think it'll take a while to handle the change of pace from running other kinds of module, but I think I'll like it when I get my hands on it.
Thank you! Much of the narrative sections were inspired by Mothership RPG adventures, so if you’ve played that system or other old-school style dungeoncrawlers, Technophobia should feel familiar. Regardless, I wish you and your table the best if you play it!
what a clever use of Ai on a ttrpg! i love it!
I’m glad you like it!
However, just in case it wasn’t clear, no generative AI was used to create this module. It simply focuses upon the topic of what could happen when a sci-fi “AI” goes rogue within the Lancer setting (though in Lancer, they’re more accurately described as “Non-Human Persons”).
oh no worries, i can see u just used in a narrative sense. great work, i also did a similar thing w my amar dag! im on gray area of ai, so no technophobia from me 👹💙🤖