Squengi Days - Dark Matter DnD 5E Sci Fi One Shot

About the adventure

This is a darkly comedic sci-fantasy one-shot using the Dark Matter setting for Dungeons & Dragons 5E by Mage Hand Press. Dark Matter takes the core rules of 5E and pushes them into space. Magic and technology exist side by side. Wizards power starships. Fighters carry laser blades. Clerics preach to alien gods. You get blasters, androids, starships, and strange new cultures without learning a new system. If you know 5E, you already know how to play. In this game, you are not the heroes. You are just every day workers aboard Squengi’s Grill, a drifting space diner that hops between trade lanes and stations. You cook food, serve customers, fix broken systems, and try to survive your shifts. The diner is old, unstable, and held together by bad repairs and worse decisions. During a routine service cycle, a notorious criminal boss and his crew arrive and take over the diner. They are looking for something that was stolen years ago. Tensions rise. Threats are made. Secrets surface. Then everything goes wrong. This adventure is designed to feel like a crime movie playing out around you while you are still on the clock but will be chock full of dark humor. You will witness violent negotiations, criminal incompetence, and sudden chaos while trying to keep yourself alive and the ship intact. Combat is fast and messy. Plans fall apart. Conversations matter as much as weapons. The tone is darkly comedic. Think sharp dialogue, escalating mistakes, and dangerous people who believe they are much smarter than they actually are. Violence happens quickly and without ceremony. Survival is more important than heroics. This is a one-shot with pre-generated character roles based on Diner Jobs. You will get to name them and breathe your personality into them. It is beginner-friendly to players new to Dark Matter or sci-fantasy, but it assumes basic familiarity with D&D 5E. Roleplay and problem-solving are emphasized over tactical combat as this is a low level story but still meant to give you preview of the Dark Matter system. If you enjoy crime stories, contained locations, and games where bad decisions stack up fast, this table will suit you well.