Labyrinth Campaign Table

The Labyrinth Campaign Table is a story generation mechanism for the Fleet Action of 2024, Labyrinth. Members should consult the Labyrinth Campaign Guide on how to best use this resource.

Results may refer you on to another table. That table might be another entry in this resource, or it may refer to the Additional Tables.

Phase 1

This phase is about the immediate experience of Underspace apertures opening and the consequences. In many cases, there is no prior warning - ships are going about their business or investigating odd sensor readings, or responding to a mysterious distress signal that sets them on their mission. While your characters may begin the story knowing something is happening, it is all very new and confusing. This phase is about confusion, survival, and adapting rapidly to a chaotic situation, as the disruption of the expanding Underspace network hits the Federation.

You can treat this as a self-contained story lasting only the length of the phase, with a whole new Underspace-related plotline beginning in Phase 2. If you’re looking to write a shorter story, these Phase 1 prompts are suitable for a narrative about survival spanning the whole FA. You may choose, however, to commit to this story prompt for the whole of the 6 weeks, with the events of new phases adding complications and developments.

Inciting Incident

Your ship stumbles into an Underspace aperture and is catapulted somewhere in the galaxy (go to the Catapulted by Underspace table below).
Your ship stumbles into an Underspace aperture and becomes trapped in the corridors (go to the Trapped in Underspace table below).
An Underspace aperture has manifested somewhere unexpected and is causing phenomena disruptive to the local area (go to the Local Underspace Trouble table below).
Travellers from elsewhere in the galaxy have stumbled into an Underspace aperture and been catapulted to where your ship is (go to the Travellers from Elsewhere table below).

1. Catapulted by Underspace

Your ship stumbles upon an Underspace aperture. Perhaps they are going about their ordinary operations, perhaps they are investigating odd sensor readings. Gravitational distortions pull the ship into an Underspace aperture, but before your crew can gain any understanding of what has happened, the ship is ejected from Underspace somewhere completely unknown in the galaxy.

Your ship must find its way home. But you are also Starfleet: explorers and scientists, who have just experienced something phenomenal and found yourselves in the complete unknown. You must survive, find your bearings, and understand where you are before you can return. What has happened to your ship?

End point: You could conclude this phase by your ship returning to the Underspace aperture and navigating home, to begin a whole new story in Phase 2. Or you can continue your mission still in this new location, with new complications arising in Phase 2.

Your ship has emerged from Underspace in a hostile environment that has left it damaged. Your crew must repair the ship, survive the environment, and find their way back to the aperture (roll on the Ship Damage and Phenomenon table).
Your ship has arrived in the territory of a government who aren’t expecting to find a Starfleet ship behind their borders. Evade, fight, or talk your way back to the aperture. (roll on the Antagonists table).
Your ship has encountered a scientific marvel worthy of study (roll on the Phenomenon or Planet/Planetary Biome table).
Your ship makes first contact with a completely unknown species (see the First Contact table).
Your ship needs to launch a rescue mission. This could be of their own crew or answering a distress call. Roll for the environment of rescue (choose between Planet/Planetary Biome or Phenomenon) and decide who is being rescued (lost members of crew, or roll on the Random Species table).
Your ship encounters aliens in need of assistance that your crew is reluctant to give (roll for Random Species and use the Planet/Planetary Biome or Phenomenon tables to determine the location and/or the problem).

2. Trapped in Underspace

Your ship stumbles upon an Underspace aperture. Perhaps they are going about their ordinary operations, perhaps they are investigating odd sensor readings. Gravitational distortions pull the ship into an Underspace aperture, where they become trapped within the tunnels. Your crew must understand this mysterious environment and find their way home. Underspace is a volatile place with many dangers - feel free to roll on the Random Underspace Effect table for additional challenges at any point in your story - but your priority is to find your way home.

End point: You could conclude this phase by your ship finding their way back to Federation space, to begin a whole new story in Phase 2. Or they could find their way out of Underspace - only to be somewhere wholly unknown at the beginning of the next Phase.

Your ship is badly damaged, and your crew have to rush in a race against time to repair it until the dangers of Underspace rip the ship apart (Roll on the Ship Damage table).
Your ship finds a dangerous debris field of other vessels once destroyed in Underspace. It must be safely navigated, but what clues to surviving and escaping might the wreckage contain?
Your ship encounters another trapped in Underspace and an unexpected alliance forms to plan an escape (roll on the Random Species table).
Your ship encounters another travelling through Underspace, and they’re hostile. Defeat them, evade them, or talk them down (roll on the Antagonists table).
Navigating home through Underspace is extremely difficult. Your ship’s efforts to find their way back becomes either an undertaking of scientific prowess and teamwork, or a claustrophobic, tense, and paranoid challenge of forging through the unknown.

3. Local Underspace Trouble

When Underspace apertures appear, they cause ripples in space-time and gravimetric distortions. This can be perilous for a ship stumbling upon them unawares, with the gravitic pull dragging ships in, but is otherwise relatively harmless in deep space. There are, however, possible dangers caused by their opening. Your ship is dispatched to deal with one of these dangers, in or near Federation space. In all circumstances, your crew are directed to not only deal with the issue, but conduct scientific study of the aperture, to try to understand its nature and this new phenomenon.

End point: You could conclude this phase by resolving the crisis to begin a whole new story in Phase 2. Or you can end the phase with this situation still ongoing, rendered more complicated by the developments of the next phase.

The gravimetric distortions or tachyon emissions of an aperture are causing agitations with a nearby stellar phenomenon, exacerbating its dangers (roll on the Phenomenon table).
You receive a distress call; someone has been - or is being - dragged into Underspace and must be rescued!
An aperture has opened near a planet. The gravimetric distortions could cause massive environmental catastrophe, such as seismic activity, volcanic eruptions, or extreme weather phenomena, endangering the inhabitants and ecosystems. Your ship must either somehow shield the planet, or evacuate people from harm’s way (roll on the Planet/Planetary Biome tables).
Debris from Underspace has emerged from the aperture. It must be investigated and recovered, to prevent it from endangering anyone nearby and/or for study.
An aperture has opened and locals want to investigate or even enter - Starfleet needs to keep this situation under control, as it could be dangerous. Police the area to stop people from getting themselves hurt. (roll on the Random Species table as needed)
An Underspace aperture has just opened in neutral space near the Federation border. A neighbour - another government, or perhaps local pirates - wants to seize control, though they have no territorial claim. Stop someone from seizing absolute control of an aperture (roll on the Antagonists or Random Species table as needed).

4. Travellers From Elsewhere

Underspace seems to have stretched across the galaxy, and Starfleet ships aren’t the only ones being pulled in to emerge somewhere new. These stories take place in or near Federation space, where your ship may be in the vicinity already, or be dispatched to respond to reports of an Underspace aperture opening - and someone (or something) from far away arriving.

End point: You could conclude this phase by resolving the crisis to begin a whole new story in Phase 2. Or you can end the phase with this situation still ongoing, rendered more complicated by the developments of the next phase.

An unknown species has come through Underspace, but the Universal Translator isn’t bridging the language gap. Make first contact, try to understand these new people, and help them get home.
The people who have come through are known to Starfleet, and they’re not friendly. Perhaps they think Starfleet are responsible, or perhaps they simply smell an opportunity (roll on the Antagonists table).
Stellar fauna have stumbled through Underspace. They are distressed and injured and outside of their natural habitat, and need assistance.
Whoever has come through has come from far away, but their ship(s) have been badly damaged by travel through Underspace. You are on a mission of mercy to save lives, discover who these visitors are, and help them get home (roll on the First Contact or Random Species table)
Whoever has arrived requests sanctuary in Federation space. They could be political enemies of a neighbour or refugees fleeing a crisis. Whoever they are, helping them is more complicated than just saying ‘yes.’ What are the political ramifications? Can the Federation give them the help they need?

Phase 2

At the start of Phase 2, the situation around Underspace is a little more understood. The Federation has realised that this known subspace corridor system reaches across the whole galaxy, and that access points to it are opening everywhere. Many questions remain about why or what the implications are. Starfleet ships are dispatched to study Underspace, but also to embark on missions of exploration through the other side, to begin to chart and assess this new trans-galactic highway. The Federation are not the only people to take interest, however. Across the galaxy, major and minor powers have found Underspace apertures, and are turning them to their own use.

There are two kinds of Phase 2 tables. The New Assignment tables begin brand new missions for ships who have resolved their Phase 1 storylines, though can be used to add new complications or mission objectives to ongoing storylines. The Phase 2 Developments adds developments that reflect the wider changes across the galaxy, and can be used in addition to the New Assignment tables, or can be used by writers who are still focusing on their Phase 1 stories, advancing their plotline further. In either case, it is (as in all circumstances) fine to not roll on a table, but to pick a prompt you think would follow on naturally or interestingly from your Phase 1 story.

End point: You may consider planning for the story you begin in Phase 2 to last the rest of the FA, rather than aiming to resolve it within these two weeks. The additions in Phase 3 focus exclusively on the resolution of the overall FA plotline. You may aim to resolve your Phase 2 storyline in time to focus solely on such a mission, or at the beginning of Phase 3, introduce a prompt from the Phase 3 Developments table to tie your storyline to the culmination/resolution of the FA.

New Assignment

Your ship has been given a new mission to answer the challenges of Underspace.

Your ship has been assigned to travel through Underspace on a mission of exploration (roll on the Mission of Exploration table).
Your ship has been assigned to study Underspace itself, from without and within (roll on the Studying Underspace table).
Apertures have opened in and near Federation space, bringing many ongoing challenges and complications. Your ship has been assigned to maintain stability (roll on the Local Apertures table).

1. Mission of Exploration

Underspace may bring many challenges and mysteries, but it also brings opportunities. Within the relative blink of an eye, a starship may enter Underspace from the heart of Federation space and emerge on the far side of the galaxy. Your ship has been sent on a mission to do just that. If the prompt does not specify, it is up to you whether the limited data gathered by ships in Phase 1 means your ship has some idea of their intended destination, or is exploring to chart new Underspace routes.

This table replicates and expands the ‘Catapulted by Underspace’ table from Phase 1, as those possible outcomes are still relevant to the dangers of Underspace travel. These options may lead to different kinds of stories, as your ship has knowingly entered Underspace in the first instance. The narrative here is one of intentionally seeking out a challenge and weathering it, rather than the chaotic survival of Phase 1 (though things can, of course, go wrong). If you find your result too repetitive of Phase 1, feel free (as always) to reroll.

Regardless of the result, consider also rolling on the ‘Phase 2 Developments’ table below to add further dimensions to your story that reflect the wider galactic situation.

Your ship has emerged from Underspace in a hostile environment that has left it damaged. Your crew must repair the ship and secure their survival before they can study this new environment (roll on the Phenomenon table)
Your ship has arrived in the territory of a government who aren’t expecting to find a Starfleet ship behind their borders. Evade, fight, or talk your way back to the aperture. (roll on the Antagonists table).
Your ship has encountered a scientific marvel worthy of study (roll on the Phenomenon or Planet/Biome table)
Your ship makes first contact with a completely unknown species (see the First Contact table)
Your ship needs to launch a rescue mission. This could be of their own crew or answering a distress call. Roll for the environment of rescue (choose between the Phenomenon or Planet/Biome table) and decide who is being rescued (your crew, or roll on the Random Species table).
Your ship encounters aliens in need of assistance that your crew is reluctant to give (roll on the Random Species and use the Phenomenon or Planet/Biome tables to determine the location and/or the problem)
Your ship has been ordered to escort civilian vessels on their own mission through Underspace. These could be survey ships, prospecting ships, trade ships, or something else.
Your ship has been dispatched to make formal diplomatic contact with a distant power, and negotiate ongoing access through this Underspace aperture (roll on the Distant sub-table of the Random Species table, or the First Contact table).
A valuable resource has been identified near an Underspace exit point. Your ship has been dispatched to assess it, and either secure it or begin plans for future extraction.
Someone or something went missing through Underspace in the initial chaos. Your ship has been assigned to find them.

Studying Underspace

Underspace still holds many secrets. Starfleet has had limited opportunity to study it in the distant Delta Quadrant, and the recent appearance of apertures has only compounded the mystery. Your ship has been dispatched to study Underspace itself and try to understand both it and why it has changed. Consider rolling on the Random Underspace Effect table (when relevant) or the Phase 2 Developments table to add complexity.

Your ship is studying an aperture in or near Federation space without entering, in what will surely be a quiet, safe, and straightforward mission of scientific research (add complications as you wish - consider something from the Random Complication table).
Your ship has been assigned to enter Underspace and study the tunnels. Navigate its dangers while researching the passageways.
Your ship has been sent into Underspace to study a debris field within it. Navigate the dangers of the tunnels while analysing this debris - where is it from? How long has it been here? What mysteries of ancient travellers through Underspace lie within?
Mapping Underspace is essential to using it. Your ship has been sent not to study the tunnels themselves, but travel them - moving quickly from egress point to egress point, identifying to where they lead, before progressing to the next so future explorers can travel more easily.
Your ship has been dispatched to travel through Underspace and study a new aperture on the far side. While your mission is not to explore the vicinity of this aperture, but the phenomenon itself, what mysteries or complications await on the other side?

Local Apertures

Apertures in and near Federation space are still open, and bring with them their own complexities. While the initial confusion has faded and the danger has generally passed, these apertures still threaten to disrupt the local area - both in themselves, and for what dangers they might bring. Your ship has been assigned to the vicinity of an aperture to resolve local issues it presents.

Some of these prompts could depict the aftermath of a prompt from the ‘Local Underspace Trouble’ table above; feel free to choose one which suits your previous mission if appropriate. Regardless of the result, consider also rolling on the ‘Phase 2 Developments’ table below to add further dimensions to your story that reflect the wider galactic situation.

A local phenomenon was disrupted by the appearance of an aperture, such as the agitation of a nebula or the triggering of ion storms. Continue to provide support for those living and working in the area. (roll on the Phenomenon table)
A planet that suffered environmental upheaval after an aperture opened nearby still needs ongoing humanitarian support. (roll on the Planet/Biome tables)
Starfleet wants to restrict access to an aperture in Federation space only to those who have the appropriate permissions, and your ship has to supervise that access. Patrol this phenomenon, check locals don’t endanger themselves - and stop troublemakers who may want to slip past you. (roll on the Random Species table as needed).
Travellers have arrived through an aperture into or near Federation space, and want to make contact. Do they need help? Do they want to negotiate diplomacy or trade? Your ship has been assigned to receive these visitors. (roll on the Random Species table as needed).
Someone with nefarious intentions has, or is trying to, come through this aperture to bypass Starfleet border defences or law enforcement. Either stop them or find them. (roll on the Random Antagonists table).

Phase 2 Developments

Many of the story prompts above are not too different to those from Phase 1 - there are only so many ways travelling through Underspace to somewhere else can be distinctive, after all. While the theme of Phase 2 is that of a more contained and controlled study of the phenomenon than the chaos and survival of Phase 1, this is not the only change. By Phase 2, different political powers are paying attention to the expansion of Underspace, and the dynamics of its arrival and use have changed.

This table introduces plot points that reflect these changes. You can use it alongside either your original story from Phase 1 - a chaotic mission of being lost through Underspace could become more complicated by these developments - or alongside the Phase 2 prompts above to deepen your story’s political dimensions.

Because of the breadth of possible stories this table could be adding to, feel particularly free to reroll or simply pick a result that suits your plot.

Your ship encounters foreign researchers who have been studying Underspace. Are they wary of you and secretive about what they have found? If they are willing to share their research, they may expect knowledge in return. Cardassian civilians are a good choice for this prompt.
A friend of the Federation is joining your mission, or has been encountered, as they conduct their own assessment of Underspace. They may help you, but they may also have their own agenda.
Klingon ships loyal to Chancellor Toral are using Underspace to launch military strikes against their enemies. Have they gotten lost on the far side of the galaxy? Are they trying to slip past Federation borders? Are they a threat to someone nearby - or, in the vast depths of Underspace or the distant galaxy, do they see this as a chance to bloody Starfleet’s nose?
You encounter a Cardassian ship responsible for deploying tetryon monitoring buoys in a network through Underspace itself. The Union are cagey about their motives, but Starfleet want answers.
Enemies or rivals of the Federation are trying to secure an Underspace aperture - in the Alpha/Beta Quadrant or elsewhere - for their own purposes. Have they cut your ship off? Are they a local strategic concern? (roll on the Antagonists table to determine your foe)
A known species from the Delta Quadrant has dared to brave Underspace in light of these new changes, and shown up where your ship is. Who are they? Friend or foe? (roll on the Distant sub-table of the Random Species table, disregarding all non-Delta Quadrant results).
You encounter a Cardassian ship near an Underspace aperture building a platform to manipulate tetryon particles. The Union wants you to move on - Starfleet wants to know what they’re up to.
Some Klingon ships aren’t looking for trouble, but are intensely mapping Underspace and identifying where apertures lead. Your ship may realise, upon closer inspection, that they’re specifically trying to identify routes to key raiding targets - or, especially, routes into Romulan territory. Perhaps they will begrudgingly share space with you. Perhaps... they won’t.