The hazard that anyone running a reactor dreads -- and the one any half-clued runner can
trigger by tripping the wrong breaker. A scram is supposed to save the day; in a rigged
or failing core, it is the start of a cascade. Pressure spikes, the safety vents slam
open, the secondary bus trips, and the crew has between two and ten minutes to either
shut it back down or accept the venting. Anyone standing in the wrong room when the
valves blow does not get to read the manual.
Rules Reference
Field
Value
Detect / Dc
18
Detect / Note
Engineering (DC 16) reads the master pressure gauges; the scram-trip warning is loud.
Detect / Skill
Sensors & Signals
Prevented By
Manual scram override, Slaved safety controller
Reset
Manual; requires full rod re-insertion, vent reseal, and Engineering DC 18 per cycle.
Save / Dc
18
Save / Note
Outside the vent cone for half; full damage if caught at the panel or in the path.
Save / Type
Reflex
Trigger / Detail
Triggers on breaker trip, on a coded chain, or on a timed sensor threshold the engineer missed.
Trigger / Type
trip / coded / countdown
Category
hazard
Disarm
dc: 22
Field
Value
dc
22
note
Manual scram and rod re-insertion at the panel; failure extends the cascade by 1d4 rounds.
skill
Engineering
dc: 24
Field
Value
dc
24
note
Slave the safety controller to a false-positive; buys 1d4 rounds of extra time.
skill
Hacking
dc: 22
Field
Value
dc
22
note
Hot-cut the trip valves; vent paths persist but do not escalate.
skill
Mechanics
Effect
description: Vent cone in a 30-ft arc from the safety stack.
Field
Value
description
Vent cone in a 30-ft arc from the safety stack.
modifier
-4d6 fire
target
hp
description: Reactor room becomes hot zone; 1/hr for the next 1d4 hours.
Field
Value
description
Reactor room becomes hot zone; 1/hr for the next 1d4 hours.
modifier
-2d6 radiation
target
hp
description: All systems on the bus trip for 1d4 rounds.
Field
Value
description
All systems on the bus trip for 1d4 rounds.
modifier
Power dump
target
environment
Mitigation
description: Engineering scram and override before the cascade completes.
Field
Value
description
Engineering scram and override before the cascade completes.
description: Clear the vent cone and shelter behind reactor-rated baffles.
Field
Value
description
Clear the vent cone and shelter behind reactor-rated baffles.
Severity Tiers
damage: 2d6 fire
Field
Value
damage
2d6 fire
saveDc
14
tier
test-firing
damage: 4d6 fire + 2d6 radiation
Field
Value
damage
4d6 fire + 2d6 radiation
saveDc
18
tier
industrial
damage: 6d6 fire + 4d6 radiation, hot zone 1d4 hours