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Drift Encounters Toolbox

Source Galaxy Exploration Manual pg. 146
When a starship travels through the Drift, there is a chance that the crew might randomly encounter something that has been pulled from another plane (Core Rulebook 291). You can roll on the table below to determine exactly what that encounter could be, possibly leading to exciting adventures that break up the monotony of long-distance space travel.

Drift Encounter

D% Description
1 Nothing. A desolate void, an empty path inhabited by not even the tiniest speck of reality. There are no other ships, no planar bubbles, and no sign that any other path charted through the Drift has gone this way before.
2–6 The ship’s path intersects with Alluvion AP4, Triune’s divine realm and the metaphorical center of the Drift.
7–10 Paraforans or paraforan fragments AA3 flock around the ship, following and waiting to feed on the Drift engine’s energy when it jumps to the Material Plane. Paraforans inadvertently dragged along by the Drift jump are disoriented and, if pulled inside a starship, can become violent in their desperation to escape.
11–12 The PCs receive a distress signal from a ship under attack by garaggakals AA2. The crew of the ship are desperate and believe their deaths to be imminent.
13–14 A malfunction with the Drift engine attracts a muddle of three to 30 riftis AP13. The tiny proteans cause mischief and chaos on the ship until they pop out of existence 1d100 hours later.
15–16 Another ship’s jump dragged an oma AA into the Drift, leaving it stranded ever since. The oma carries a single passenger, another lost traveler it found floating alone.
17 Time eaters AA3 slip aboard the ship and trap its crew within a time loop, forcing them to repeat the same 10-minute sequence until they can discover and defeat the temporal stowaways.
18 A Drift architect AA3 appears and begins deconstructing nearby matter (either a planar bubble, a creature, or the starship itself) for incorporation into the Drift. In addition, you can roll again, ignoring additional results of 18, to determine the scenario in which the Drift architect appears.
19–20 A powered-down ship floating through the Drift crosses the PCs’ route. There are no signs of life aboard the ship and it doesn’t respond to messages. The ship’s crew died in the Drift long ago and rose as driftdead AA3, doomed to forever relive the day they died.
21–24 Teleliths AA3 hide among debris and miniature planar bubbles, waiting to ambush passing starships. They attack all passing ships, feeding on those they subdue. Plastics and other undesirables from their previous kills float nearby.
25–26 A colour out of space AA2 enters the ship and begins feeding on the Drift engines, slowing down the vessel and potentially halting it altogether.
27–28 A coven of three void hags AA entered the Drift years ago on a technoplanar pilgrimage for knowledge and magic. Without a ship of their own, the coven has no way to return to the Material Plane.
29–30 A bored asteray AA follows the PCs’ ship. Unable to find another source of entertainment in the Drift, the capricious fey causes endless trouble for the PCs whenever the creature feels the need for amusement.
31 The PCs cross paths with an enormous plasma ooze AA2 the size of a small sun. An array of AbadarCorp satellites orbit the ooze, studying its unusual properties in the hopes of capitalizing on any discoveries, but they are about to be consumed by the ever-growing ooze.
32 The Failed Gate AP4, an anomalous storm of raw arcane magic centered on a Drift Beacon, looms ahead of the ship. The Failed Gate was the result of a catastrophic ritual meant to create a magical gate between the Drift and the Material Plane.
33–34 A hesper AA boards the starship and begins bonding with the ship’s power core (or other major power source), causing odd but (at least initially) nonthreatening errors, glitches, and malfunctions.
35–36 The players receive an old distress signal from a powered-down starship floating through the Drift. A pack of akatas AA2 got aboard the ship before it jumped to hyperspace, and the crew died of void death.
37–40 The PCs pass through a shrinking planar bubble inhabited by marooned ones AA.
41 The PCs pass through a stable bubble from the Material Plane, finding it to be the lair of a void dragon AA2. Inside, the dragon keeps a hoard of vanquished starships.
42 A time dragon AA2 travels the Drift, ensuring any temporal differences of active planar bubbles are not being abused.
43–44 A solar wisp AA2 has attached itself to a slow-moving planar bubble floating through the Drift, searching for minerals to feed on.
45 The PCs encounter Horizon’s End, an explorer-class starship crewed by individuals who each claim to be mortal avatars of Weydan. The crew travels the Drift in search of new experiences, something they hope—or perhaps even demand— that the PCs offer.
46 The PCs encounter the Flotilla of the Devourer AP4, a massive collection of starships in the Drift serving as both fleet and fortress for the Cult of the Devourer.
47–50 The PCs’ route crosses through a doldrum AP4, a pocket of the Drift where no technology works. The sizes of these spaces vary greatly—some require only a couple of minutes for a ship’s momentum to carry it through, while the other, longer patches are incredibly dangerous, as entire crews die without the life support systems of their ships.
51–52 A misty bubble from the Ethereal Plane leaks souls into the Drift. Some of the spirits are vengeful wraiths—their emotions tied too strongly to the Material Plane for them to pass on. However, none of these lost souls will reach the Boneyard.
53–54 A planar bubble from the First World overspills its bounds into the rest of the Drift, growing instead of shrinking. Giant, florescent tree roots seep into the void, grabbing nearby asteroids or other spatial detritus. Gremlins AA3 and other fey create mischief for those approaching or entering the bubble.
55–56 VoidboilsAP12 cover the surface of a planar bubble from the Shadow Plane, a dark globe that sucks in the light of passing starships. The boils spray dark bolts of shadowy energy into the surrounding space, frosting passing ships with quickly dissipating rime, though creatures inside might be affected by the cold.
57–58 Planar bubbles from the Positive and Negative Energy Planes have converged. They are locked in an unstable cycle of creating and destroying each other, attracting the attention of several equinoxians AA3.
59–60 The PCs encounter a planar bubble from the Plane of Air that contains breathable air, a hospitable atmosphere, and subjective directional gravity; everything within the bubble can fly of its own accord by shifting their concept of “down.” Starships entering the bubble could be adversely affected due to a swift change in gravity and atmosphere.
61–62 A planar bubble from the Plane of Earth, an enormous asteroid-like chunk of planar material, floats in the PCs’ path. Tunnels and mines create a navigable path through the otherwise solid bubble of elemental earth. Veins of precious metals and glittering growths of crystal can be found within, in addition to a population of earth elementals AA. Avoiding the rock might add time to the PCs’ journey, while navigating through the asteroid’s tunnels requires a skilled pilot.
63–64 The PCs encounter a planar bubble from the Plane of Fire inhabited by an efreeti AP13 with azer AP13 servants working to build a starship from scrap that has floated into their bubble. The efreeti will grant one wish to any mortal who can return her to the City of Brass.
65–66 A planar bubble from the Plane of Water encapsulates a huge quantity of water floating through the Drift, much like a giant fishbowl. The interior of the bubble has subjective directional gravity and contains a myriad of aquatic fauna. Any vessel passing through the bubble must compensate for the increased pressure on the hull.
67–68 A planar bubble from the Astral Plane contains a silver squall, a storm made from violent thoughts and competing ideas. The squall shrieks through the ship’s comms, and hearing its psychic chatter might cause confusion or damage to the psyche. Those who aren’t overcome can yell back, verbally dismantling its arguments until the storm subsides.
69–70 A large planar bubble from the Maelstrom has split into innumerable smaller bubbles that slowly float away and encroach on pieces of other planes, threatening to enter and contaminate those bubbles with the Maelstrom’s unstable planar traits.
71–72 A planar bubble containing a chunk of the Spire stolen from the Boneyard floats through the Drift.
73–74 A planar bubble of Axis contains a fractured city district, many of its buildings featuring symbology of some long-forgotten god.
75–76 A planar bubble from Heaven known as Bulwark AP4, a large, grassy hill that floats through the void, glows with a gentle light. Bulwark’s lone inhabitant, an archon who sits atop the hill, welcomes good-aligned creatures to rest in the miniaturized upper planar realm.
77–78 The PCs encounter a planar bubble from Nirvana, from which a pair of barachiuses AA make it their mission to defend innocent creatures brought into the Drift.
79–80 A planar bubble from Elysium consists of a huge mountain surrounded by vibrant, shining emerald fields, and the azatas brought into the Drift play beautiful music. Tritidairs AA2 can leave the bubble in their starlight form, but they cannot leave the Drift.
81–82 A handful of squabbling demons inhabits a bubble of the Abyss. A haughty pluprex demon AA2 has declared the bubble their own new layer of the Abyss, and themselves the Demon Lord who rules it.
83–84 The black, festering waters of the River Styx cut through a dark planar bubble from Abaddon, the Eternal Eclipse, trickling off the edge into the endless Drift.
85–86 The PCs encounter the Iron Steeple AP4, a diabolical cathedral pulled from Hell into the Drift. Contingents of devils have taken control of the planar bubble, defending the site, preventing anyone else from entering, and even aggressively attacking those who pass nearby.
87–88 A bubble from the Dimension of Dreams contains animated dreams and the dream avatars of sleeping mortals who might never wake up, trapped inside a dream stolen by the Drift.
89–90 The PCs encounter a twisting lemniscate-shaped planar bubble from the Dimension of Time with a time dimensional AA3 waiting to ambush any who come near.
91–92 A small population of mi-go AA2 eke out an existence within a planar bubble that contains a partial fragment of an unknown moon.
93–94 A mundane planar bubble contains a chunk of a terrestrial world on the Material Plane, inhabited by peaceful, grazing animals. Perhaps with enough time, some clue hidden inside the bubble might reveal more about the world.
95–96 The PCs encounter two planar bubbles that collided some time in the recent past. In the resulting mass, the disparate gravitational, spatial, or conceptual realities converged on each other, forming a unique environment.
97–98 A triad of iridia spectra AA3 contact the PCs through the comm unit of their ship. They might inquire about the PCs’ journey, offer to help with any needed repairs, correct their course, or ask for the PCs’ assistance in spreading hyperspace technology throughout the galaxy.
99 A powerful and predatory outsider attacks the PCs and quickly proves beyond their ability to defeat. Just as the situation turns dire, an aspecna spectra AA3 appears, phasing into hyperspace, and saves the day. If the PCs are lost or need assistance leaving the Drift, the aspecna offers to escort them to their destination.
100 Roll twice on this table, ignoring any additional results of 1 or 100.