The Dead Signal

A Starter Scenario for Ashfall

For: 3-5 players, Level 1 Duration: 2-3 hours Prep Required: None beyond reading this page

Setup

The party is traveling between settlements when their radio crackles to life with an automated distress signal from a pre-war relay station a few miles off the road. The signal has been broadcasting for 60 years. Someone just answered it.

The Hook

A working pre-war relay station means salvage worth weeks of scavenging, possibly a sealed cache, possibly a survivor who has been hiding for decades. But the distress signal is public-band. If the party heard it, others did too. Ignoring it means someone else claims whatever is inside. The answer that came through was a single word: "Confirmed."

Location: Relay Station Kappa-7

A squat concrete bunker topped with a rusted antenna array, half-buried in ash dunes at the base of a collapsed overpass. The structure is intact but weathered, its reinforced walls scarred with old weapon damage. A faded Dynaxis Solutions logo is barely visible above the main entrance.

1. The Approach

An open stretch of cracked asphalt and ash fields surrounds the station. Two hundred feet of exposed ground with no cover between the road and the entrance. The main door hangs ajar.

What the party notices:

• Fresh boot prints in the ash, at least four sets, leading inside.
• A discarded ration wrapper near the entrance, still clean. These people arrived recently.
• Perception DC 12: A lookout is posted on the station roof behind the antenna array, watching the road with binoculars. They have not spotted the party yet if the party is approaching carefully.
• Perception DC 15: Scuffed drag marks near the door suggest something heavy was hauled inside.

2. Ground Floor

A single large room that was once a relay operations center. Rows of dead equipment line the walls, their panels stripped or smashed. The air smells like cold ash and gun oil.

What the party finds:

• Five bedrolls arranged around a cold fire pit in the center of the room. A few personal effects: ammunition, a whetstone, a flask of rotgut.
• Iron Wolf kill-marks scratched into the wall near the bedrolls. These are scouts, not settlers.
• A heavy steel door at the back of the room leads to the server room. It is locked with a pre-war electronic lock.
  • Technology DC 14 to hack the lock open.
  • MIG DC 16 to force the door (loud; alerts everyone in the station).
  • The Iron Wolf scouts have not breached it yet. They are arguing about whether to blow it open or call for a technician.

3. Server Room

A small, sealed room behind the locked door. The air is cool and dry. Banks of dead servers line the walls, but one terminal in the center is still powered, its screen casting green light across the room. A low hum comes from a backup fusion cell beneath the floor.

What the party finds:

• The functioning terminal is broadcasting the distress signal on a loop. The signal is automated, but 30 minutes ago someone on a remote terminal sent a one-word acknowledgment: "Confirmed."
• Technology DC 12 to access the terminal's stored data. It contains coordinates to Bunker Sigma-9, a sealed Dynaxis facility two days' travel to the northeast. The bunker's manifest lists medical supplies, weapons, and pre-war research data.
• Technology DC 16 to trace the remote acknowledgment. It came from somewhere to the northeast, near the bunker coordinates. Someone else knows about this place and is heading there.
• The fusion cell has enough charge to run the terminal for another week before it dies permanently.

The Complication

Five Iron Wolf scouts arrived at Kappa-7 about an hour before the party. Their sergeant, a pragmatic veteran named Harsk, is trying to decide whether to call for backup, strip the station, or crack the server room door. The scouts are restless and divided on the plan.

Their disposition: The Iron Wolves are scavengers and opportunists, not zealots. They will fight to defend a claim, but they do not want to die for a locked door they cannot open. They can be reasoned with.

The party can:

• Fight them. A straight combat encounter. The lookout on the roof joins combat on Round 2 if not dealt with first. See enemy stats below.
• Negotiate. Persuasion DC 14 to convince Harsk to share whatever is inside, or Deception DC 15 to bluff the party into the building on a false pretense. If the party can open the server room door, Harsk may agree to split the findings rather than risk a fight.
• Sneak past them. Stealth DC 13 (group check) to slip through the ground floor while the scouts are distracted by their argument. Failure means one scout spots the party and raises an alarm.
• Create a distraction. The party can lure the scouts away from the building (a noise outside, a fake radio signal, a fire) and reach the server room while they investigate. Requires a plan and at least one successful skill check (GM's call on the DC based on the plan's quality, DC 12-15).

Enemy Stats

Iron Wolf Scout (x4)

Attack: Pipe Pistol +4 to hit, 1d6 damage, range 30/60 (unreliable — jams on natural 1) Melee: Scrap Knife +3 to hit, 1d4 damage Armor: Leather scraps (DV bonus +1) Tactics: Take cover and shoot. Flee if two or more scouts drop.

Iron Wolf Sergeant — Harsk (x1)

Attack: Hunting Rifle +5 to hit, 1d10 damage, range 100/400 (2-action reload) Melee: Machete +4 to hit, 1d8 damage Armor: Reinforced Leather (DV bonus +2) Tactics: Stays behind cover and uses the hunting rifle. Switches to machete if engaged in melee. Calls for retreat when reduced to half HP (11 or below). Will negotiate surrender if cornered alone.

Rewards

• Terminal Data: Coordinates to Bunker Sigma-9 (two days northeast). This is the real prize and a ready-made hook for the next session or a full campaign.
• Salvage: 2d6 x 10 credits worth of usable parts and components from the relay equipment.
• Sergeant's Weapon: Harsk's hunting rifle (Tier 2, 1d10 damage, range 100/400, 2-action reload) if the party defeats or disarms him.
• Goodwill (if negotiated): The Iron Wolf scouts remember the party. Harsk may become a contact, a rival, or a reluctant ally depending on how the conversation went.

GM Notes

Let the players approach this however they want. The scenario is designed with four clear paths (fight, talk, sneak, distract), but players will invent a fifth. Let them. Combat is one option, not the default, and a smart party can walk out of here with everything they need without firing a shot.

If the party negotiates with Harsk, keep him in your back pocket. A pragmatic Iron Wolf sergeant who owes the party a favor (or a grudge) is more valuable than a dead one. He knows the region, has contacts, and can show up later when the story needs a familiar face.

The bunker coordinates are deliberately open-ended. Bunker Sigma-9 can be whatever your campaign needs: a dungeon crawl, a faction strongpoint, a horror scenario, or simply a rich supply cache. The acknowledgment signal means someone else is headed there too, which gives you a built-in ticking clock for the next session.