Introduction

Abducted to the future and forced to compete in broadcast arena combat, the characters must find a way to escape an endless cycle of violence and death.

The Future Hates You! is an adventure for characters of 5th to 10th level. It is set on a space station in the distant future where the characters are known as notorious criminals and contains science fiction elements, including time travel.

Adventure Background

The space station was built decades ago by a multinational effort the world had never seen before. At first, the science performed on the station enjoyed broad public support, but over time the funding dried up. Eventually, the station was sold to an entertainment megacorp, Historia Kanalo, which kept the R&D department funded by space tourism.

Five years ago, the scientists achieved their greatest breakthrough: time travel. Documentaries with live footage of historical events provided a boost in viewership, but public interest waned. Faced with falling ratings, corporate leadership brought in a new Director based on his pitch for a show about gladiatorial combat between history’s most notorious criminals.

It was a wild success, not least due to the debate around the ethics of the program. The addition of cloning vats allowed a “contestant” to be killed one night and back on the field the next. Ratings and controversy increased in lockstep.

Then the research team discovered that continued use of the time portal could cause instabilities in the timestream. They released a statement calling for the immediate end of the arena combat program, the return of all contestants to their original time period, and the resumption of less invasive historical drone footage.

The division among station staff escalated to a full-blown mutiny. Corporate evacuated the tourists. The scientists barricaded the science deck and imprisoned the former head of R&D for unethical experimentation. The Director seized the opportunity to broadcast the conflict as a reality show. The public branded the two factions as #TeamEthics and #TeamRatings.

Knowing his support from Corporate depends on keeping ratings up, the Director authorized a raid on the Portal Chamber. Team Ethics was able to repel the raiders, but not before the characters were pulled through the portal. For reasons unknown to the players, they are regarded as some of history’s most legendary villains, and their upcoming debut in the arena has generated a lot of viewer excitement.

Adventure Overview

This scenario begins when the characters wake in a holding pen in a large arena. They quickly realize they are on a space station where notorious criminals from throughout history are abducted and forced into gladiatorial combat.

The characters eventually escape to the main station, where they find the crew in open conflict over the abuse of time travel. The station inhabitants have split into opposing factions: #TeamRatings and #TeamEthics, as well as the unaffiliated #OpsUnion who just want to keep the station from exploding.

The characters will need to choose what to do and who to help. Return to the past or stay in the future? Help one faction win over the others, or blow up the portal so it can’t be abused anymore?

Adventure Hooks

How did we get here?

The last thing the characters remember is seeing an unusually bright light, then they found themselves in the arena. They are extremely disoriented.

A shifty recruiter

The characters were approached in a bar by a man wearing odd clothes. He spoke Common but gave the impression of being foreign. He asked them to participate in some sort of contest. He seemed to know a lot about them, and exactly what to offer to tempt them. They remember agreeing and then woke up in the arena feeling drugged and cursing the recruiter.

Taken by force

The characters were ambushed on the road. Their attackers wore strange black armor and carried unusual weapons that fired bolts of light that rendered them unconscious. They woke up in the arena, groggy and upset.

DM Advice

Meeting NPCs

If the players are having fun exploring, let them decide where to go. But if they seem unsure what to do next, consider having an NPC summon them directly to a meeting via the nearest computer terminal.

The Director wants to make them stars. Consider having The Director summon them to a meeting personally, where he can explain that he’d like to make them stars if they take out the Professor.

The Chief Engineer needs to keep the station from exploding. If they don’t head towards Engineering at some point, try having some panicked engineers run past, or some alarming announcements over the intercom to make it clear the station is in danger of exploding. If all else fails, perhaps the Chief Engineer could contact the characters to ask for help.

The Professor wants to stop the Director. Eventually, the players will probably be motivated to make their way to the Portal Chamber, but if they don’t, the Professor could reach out directly to propose working together, offering a way home if they can stop the Director.

Suggestions

Let the players be clever. This is an open-ended scenario that’s meant to reward creative thinking and solutions over combat. If they find a clever shortcut or way to avoid something you had planned, that’s great! Let the players feel clever while you look for another way to increase the pressure.

Let the players pick an ending. Nearly every NPC offers a different way to resolve this scenario. Do your best to avoid picking a “good ending” to steer your players towards. Returning to the past, staying in the future, or even using the portal to go somewhere new are all viable outcomes. Try to run with what your players are interested in.