ENTRY CODE: 156
THE DEEP
ELEVATOR PITCH: Brutal space Horror, drawing on Dead Space and Event Horizon. Sci-fi explorers quest into The Deep - lost places in the darkness between stars, under frozen oceans, in ruined cities - on missions for the Authority. The stress of survival and the deaths of their companions pushes them into instability and madness.

WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON?
The Deep is the land of the dead. It’s accessible via rifts made when tens of thousands of sentients die - spaceship crashes, plagues, genocide, etc. The Authority aren’t fully aware of what The Deep really is, but they have some ideas. They operate on a Need To Know basis, as the majority of Deep missions go off without a hitch. 
Most of them. Just not the one we’re on. 

The Deep is teeming with dangers of all kinds. There are all manner of phantoms, animated corpses, and other permutations of deadly death to kill you the players, as well as the standard environmental horrors associated with space.Then, there’s the fact that there’s often no way to source additional supplies once you’re inside. People are going to die.
When people die, they don’t disappear, but haunt the party. They can influence other players. The result is a high-threat game, with plenty for the players of dead characters to do. 

WHAT’S THE MISSION?
The mission always changes,  and it always gets out of hand. 
Bring something back, kill something, change something, stop the attacks, bury something, exile someone, guard something. The tasks given by the Authority are myriad, and every one will take its toll. 
Halfway through the game, the GM plays out their hand and draws another, rapidly escalating the threat.  
(much like a Fiasco-esque tilt table)
WHAT’S AN AEGIS SUIT?
It’s a semi-powered hazmat suit and it’s all that’s keeping you alive; if it tears, you’re doomed. It contains everything you need to stay alive - oxygen, food, weapons, and tools. If you make camp, you can remove and repair it, but only inside an oxygen tent. (There’s maybe an occult element to the suits, as well - finger bones of saints in the spine, holy water in the coolant systems, etc.)

EXPLORATION

The gm has a deck of cards. For every new area entered, they turn over a new card. Every time a character comes up against an insurmountable odds, add another card. These cards represent the threat level of each new trouble coming your way. 

There are a set of Areas that the characters move between. Their total distance from the heart of the rift determines the weirdness facter. GM could build beforehand, in the moment, nuy might be best to start with a general theme, and then generate from the cards.  Place down and flip over as people explore representing abstract obstacles.

A Five-Card Hand. 
Five Areas to Explore. For each area, the GM plays one card from their hand that determines the events of that area. It cannot be removed from the table. Every time the characters attempt something risky, difficult, or ambitious, another card is played. These cards can be discarded as the problems are solved. The skills of the characters determine trumps for the purposes of solving problems. A Medic will always have an edge for solving problems under their purview. Clubs is trump, if Security is playing one. 
The players play cards from their hands to solve the problems. 

On a pair, establish something about the reality of the mission. (GM veto?) On a run, a series of actions can be linked to intensify the effect. Other special hands can be used to solve more than one problem at once?
If a player’s Aegis suit is torn, they die. (Maybe have a random chance of this happening, increasing with previous damage taken, to up the tension; nothing is safe.) If they run out of stability, they give in completely to their primary trait and are removed as a player character; they can haunt the party. You have gone mad in the land of the dead, have some psychic powers.

RESOURCES
Everyone has inventory slots, and exploration requires expenditure of resources. Suggest giving players ten; what they leave and what they carry should be a difficult choice. Resource management isn’t a hugely important part of the game, but instead drives barriers between players/ makes death sting as lost bodies are carrying vital supplies and encourages people to press on, as slowing down consumes time and resources.

PERSONALITY TRAITS
Pick two: a primary and secondary. You can only gain or lose stability with your primary. When you hit half Stability, you BREAK and the traits swap places as your true colours come through. When you go back over half, your original trait returns as you manage  to get it together.
When you die, your primary trait becomes your HAUNT power. Use Leverage to Haunt the others. Refusal of the Haunt costs stability. 
Independent: Gain stability when you put the safety of yourself before others. Lose stability when you take damage. Gain leverage when someone helps you. HAUNT: Betray someone’s trust.
Martyr: Gain stability when you put the safety of others before yourself. Lose stability when others take damage. (?) Gain leverage when you help someone. HAUNT: Put yourself in danger.
Leader: Gain stability when you instruct others and your instructions are followed. Lose stability when your suggestions are ignored or undermined. Gain leverage when people agree your plan was the right one. HAUNT: You’re in charge, here.
Supporter: Gain stability when you follow instructions from others. Lose stability when you ask for instruction and none is given. Gain leverage when you help someone by following their instructions. HAUNT: Go along with the majority.
Survivalist: Gain stability when you refuse others supplies. Lose stability when you have no supplies. Gain leverage when you give someone something. HAUNT: Refuse to help.
Hedonist: Gain stability when you use supplies when you don’t need to. Lose stability when you don’t consume. (?) Gain leverage when you give someone something. HAUNT: Use supplies for pleasure.
Warrior: Gain stability when you engage in combat. Lose stability when you avoid a fight. Gain leverage when fighting was a good idea. HAUNT: Start a fight.
Trailblazer: Gain stability when you explore, refusing to rest. Lose stability when you make camp. Gain leverage when you show someone something or find something useful for someone. HAUNT: Go off on your own.
Defender: Gain stability when you set up camp. Lost stability when you break camp. Gain leverage when sitting still was a good idea. HAUNT: Flee.

Here’s what I need to Keep 
Here’s what I need to Let Go

THE DEEP CHARACTER SHEET

Player name:
OPERATIVE STATUS
AEGIS CONDITION O O O O O ( “AEGIS BREACH” sounds good shouted I feel)
MENTAL STABILITY O O O O O /BREAK/ O O O O O

TEAM STATUS
OPERATIVE 1		OPERATIVE 2		OPERATIVE 3
LV:				LV:				LV:
(LV is short for Leverage, spend leverage to get people to side with you/help you, outbid if you have different positions/multiple requests. If they refuse, they lose stability. Start with a handful, build during play)

FIELD NOTES
DESIGNATION: (Some pithy, easy-to-remember, two-or-three syllable callsign: LATCHKEY, WATCHDOG, AMPERSAND, NIMROD, WESSEX, MOLOCH, CHIMERA)
SPECIALITY: 

Engineering. Fix things. Your Suit is Spades. 
Medical.  Fix People. Your Suit is Hearts. 
Security. Break Or Protect Things and people. Your Suit is Clubs. 
Logistics. Communicate, Find Things, Discover Solutions. Your Suit is Diamonds. 
 
EQUIPMENT: BASIC (Each character has the same basic equipment but can remove it if they want to open up more room for special items. FOOD x 3, REPAIR KIT x 1, SEDATIVES x 1, AMMUNITION X 1, OXYGENx 3 etc)
SPECIAL: (Choose from a list. All heavy. Things like CUTTING TORCH, ASSAULT RIFLE, SHIELD GENERATOR, TOOLKIT, INCINERATOR UNIT, STEALTH AUGMENTERS, MOBILITY ENHANCERS.

PSYCH NOTES:
PRIMARY TRAIT: 
SECONDARY TRAIT: 

OPTIONAL SYSTEM: 
Roll 2D6. If both come up 4+, you succeed. If one comes up 4+, you succeed at a cost. If neither come up 4+ you fail. Skills/equipment allow you to re-roll 1s (minor skill) or 2s (major skill), but you can’t re-roll twice.
On a double, establish something about the reality of the mission. GM has veto.