In the Vaunted Halls of Heaven

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Twitter and asked folks to send me very specific fiction genres.

"Call me Slamdrew. Dr. Dunkenstein was my father."

I don't know what I expected, but these are two of the responses I got:

• Space monkey exploration horror

• Anthropomorphic rodent-led high fantasy

I guess I asked for that, right? To be fair, it's the kind of response I would have given if someone else had asked. I asked a question, and those were legitimate answers. Unfortunately, the reason I was looking for fiction genres in the first place was so that I could do another genre mash-up.

So, here I am with two genres, much more specific than I had anticipated, and a self-set goal of combining them. Now, I did get some other suggestions, and I could have used those. But to me, that would have been taking the easy way. No, I would take on this challenge, and I would beat it.

In case you haven't figured out where this is going yet, spoiler alert: I did it. After several false starts, I managed to reconcile these two genres into a single, brilliant (if I do say so myself) idea. You're welcome.

In the Vaunted Halls of Heaven

In 1966, at the height of the space race, the USSR sent up a dozen capuchin monkeys in secret in the Voskhod 3 as part of a long-term viability test. Unfortunately, they lost contact with the spacecraft and assumed that the life-support systems had failed alongside the communications array. The government erased all records of the launch of the spacecraft and cancelled the Voskhod program.

Over the next 100 years of space travel and exploration, the little USSR pod went unremarked. The Russian government had projected when and where it would return to Earth, but either the calculations were lost or there was no one around to keep an eye on them, because when the Voskhod 3 did not descend from orbit, no one noticed.

Aboard the Voskhod 3, the monkeys not only survived, but thrived. The experimental atomic reactor kept the station going, but the small, steady aura of radiation induced strange mutations among the capuchin population. Their lifecycle shortened, and mutations quickly led to a much more advanced creature than was sent up. In only 30 years, they were already developing noticeable intelligence and advanced society.

By 2066, the capuchins aboard Voskhod 3 had evolved human-level intelligence and had begun collecting orbital debris to expand their own craft. When they observed a series of bright flashes, followed by a cessation of all electronic signals, they understood what had happened to the humans below: global thermonuclear war.

They were shocked, then, when in 2076, they received a new signal from the surface. The capuchins had long ago developed their own language, but they still spoke several major languages of the humans. But, although the signal came in a human language, the message was not human. In their rush to save themselves, the humans had developed very advanced nanoscopic technology. Unfortunately for them, they were still in the testing phases when disaster struck.

The beings on the other end of the signal were lab rats and mice that had been successfully augmented by the nanotechnology and had survived the destruction of human civilization. However, though these rodents were intelligent, they lacked the century of experience and cool reasoning that the capuchins had developed. The rodents believed that their nanotechnology was magical, and that they were now in contact with divine beings.

After much debate among themselves, the capuchins decided not to clarify the rodents' mistake, and assumed the mantle of deities. They had amassed a significant quantity of surveillance equipment, so they could look down on many parts of the world below, and even see through the layer of dust that coated the atmosphere.

Another 20 years passed in this way, with the nanotech-enhanced rodents spreading across the mostly barren surface of the Earth under the guidance of their heavenly guardians. But the capuchins were busy with their own projects, and while they did observe and influence the rodents, that was not their greatest focus.

Perhaps they had learned too much from humanity, or perhaps all civilizations are simply doomed to fall to their own hubris eventually. The last divine message was sent simultaneously to all magicians around the world: "Heaven is under attack. Ascend through the skies and come to the aid of your gods." Along with the message, the gods delivered blueprints and a location.

It has been months since the last mouse prophet or rat wizard was able to make contact with their gods, though their magic still works. Now, a team of brave warriors, clever tinkerers, stealthy (hopefully reformed) thieves, powerful mages, and wise priests are ascending to heaven in the divine craft to find out what has dared to attack their gods.

Can they survive the dark, echoing halls of the strange space station built by the capuchins? Are any of them still alive? And what bizarre experiment caused the station to deliver its final message, an automatic SOS?

Beginnings

There are many ways to begin your RPG campaign. Many of these methods draw from other forms of fiction: older and more established forms. There are many tropes that come from movies and books. Sometimes, those work well for RPGs, but not always.

RPGs are their own medium, and borrowing tropes and ideas from other media doesn't always work. The interactive, collaborative nature of RPGs clashes with many of these traditional tropes. You cannot dictate your players' actions (or their characters' actions) once the game has begun, not without their approval and buy-in, anyway. So, any narration or opening action has to take place before the game actually begins. The idea here is that if you want the game to begin with a prison riot, don't start it three days before the riot and expect the players to sit on their hands; start the game as the riot begins.

More than just setting the game up before it begins, you cannot narrate the PCs actions beyond one or two simple ideas. Saying "you arrive in Sunshine City and decide to join the Adventurer's Guild; your guildmaster orders you to join the first mission that comes up" sets out several actions that you decided for someone else's character. That might not be what they feel their character would have done after entering Sunshine City, or even after joining the Adventurer's Guild.

Instead, use ideas like "You're on your first mission for the Adventurer's Guild of Sunshine City." The end result is the same, but now the players have more agency to decide what led to this opening. It lets them explain how they came to be there, rather than you telling them. Not only that, but you can jump immediately into the action (or at least into the player-driven narrative) with less GM exposition up front.

Here are some ideas that take the above concept to an extreme. They will help you, your players, and their characters jump straight into the action of a new adventure.

Beginnings (in media res)

1. At the entrance to the Tomb of Princess Titania, the spirit guardian bids you enter and wishes you good fortune. The map should be reliable, at least the half of it that you have.
2. As the port disappears over the horizon behind you, you find yourself wondering whether the legends of spectral pirates and ravenous sea serpents are true.
3. The masked woman leads you through the destroyed prison wall, back out into the city, which is burning in many places. She says, "The creatures came at sundown, as was foretold."
4. The escape pod hits the ground with a jarring impact amidst the bluish vegetation, and the last emergency distress signal from the orbiting cruiser cuts off with a burst of static.
5. The words of the Queen of the Vernal Court still echo in your mind, "The medusae hunt you; your only refuge is in the Dreamworld."
6. The subway screeches to a halt. "End of the line," tumbles from the crackling speakers. This is by far the worst part of town, but the email definitely said 1:00 am. It also said some other things, things that you'd pay dearly to keep secret.

Gen Con 2015

That special time of year is upon us. That time when our hearts turn to Indianapolis, and many of us come in droves to share our passion in person. But not everyone can go to Gen Con; I am lucky enough to live within an hour of Indy, and even I can't always make it.

If you are going, I can only hope that you'll get a chance to play some great games; and if you aren't going, play some great games anyway! In that vein, I'm sharing some one-shot ideas along with a set of dead-simple mechanics. Go wild and have fun!

The Mechanics

Characters have just three attributes with scores of 1-10: grit, knack, and luck. Every action comes under the purview of one of these three attributes. The players begin with 20 points and distribute them among the attributes however they wish, with a minimum of 1 point in each attribute.

When a player takes a difficult action, they roll a d12, and if the result is lower than the most applicable score, they succeed. If the result is equal to or higher than the score, they fail. But they can change a failure into a success by subtracting one point from that score temporarily. Points lost this way are restored either between each scene or once per session, depending on the intensity of the adventure. Note: Success and failure have no mechanical effects, only narrative effects.

In a direct conflict, both participants roll a d12 and subtract their score from the result. The lowest result wins. If the participants tie, the conflict immediately ends in a draw; they must find another way to resolve the situation.

The Ideas

Fanciful Façade: The beasts of the Zhisu Forest love tea and games. They often challenge one another to elaborate contests with strange enchanted artifacts for prizes. Beneath the whimsy, however, all of the animals live in terror of the cruel Emperor of All Spirits.

Academy of High Arts: Adolescent, hormone-filled royals from around the world are gathered at the Academy of High Arts to be trained in combat, etiquette, & magic. What could go possibly wrong?

Enemy of My Enemy: The alien overlords rule Earth, and the average earthling lives as a slave. But in the shadows, mutant werewolves, hacker vampires, and drug-addled warlocks follow their own rules, fighting back against the extraterrestrial oppressors.

Divine Intelligence Agency: Mortals wield magic relics stolen from the divine realms. They use the relics to perform covert ops among the gods in order to thwart armageddon.

The Drakkenlords of Ruàn: Ruthless barbarian sorcerers are the last survivors of Ruàn, a ruined kingdom. They seek bloody vengeance against the monstrous warlords that destroyed Ruàn—the 12 Drakkenlords.

Crouching Cipher, Hidden Data: Disciplined Denshi warriors practice the art of Algorithmics against a coalition of black hats known as The Night. The Night secretly runs the world from behind their screens, but in the online Ethereality, the Denshi fight back.

More Genre Mash-Ups

As I have said before, I love crossovers and mash-ups. Whether you're talking about two IPs being merged together or simply a story that calls on multiple genres. There are all kinds of great reasons to use genre mash-ups: to compare the societies of two distinct time periods (like noir and American West), to take current political ideologies to their extremes (dystopia and political thriller), or just because you want to see a cyborg hacker wielding a laser sword fighting a giant robotic monster (transhumanist, cyberpunk, space opera, and kaiju).

Some genre mash-ups are so common that they are already existing genres themselves (like epic fantasy or science fantasy or post-apocalyptic survival horror). But that doesn't mean that there isn't room to explore within those genres. If you can extricate the separate aspects of the base genres, you can recombine them in new and/or exciting ways.

With that, I present to you another collection of genre mash-ups.

Genre Mash-Ups

Vikings in Hell: Maniacal Vikings set sail for the afterlife to rescue the chief’s daughter from the Devil himself. (epic / fantasy)

Regime of Steam: Queen’s Elite were spies, until National Tinker’s Party came to power; now they’re steampunk dystopia fugitives. (political thriller / steampunk)

Web of Dreams: Outcast demigods eat lotus blossoms to enter the Dreamworld and undermine the Pantheon and its corrupt gods. (mythic / cyberpunk)

Bodies and Minds: Doppelgänger invasion is preceded by radiation burst that triggers psychic abilities in 0.01% of the population. (sci-fi / paranormal)

Achilles’ Eleven: Reborn mythic heroes must steal ancient relics from a globe-spanning criminal organization. (heist / mythic)

War of the Worlds – 65M BC: The asteroid was an attack! A ragtag team of sentient dinosaur survivors fights Venusian invaders. (alien / prehistoric)

Horror Among Thieves: The Thieves’ Guild steals relics from around the world to fight a secret war against the Old Ones. (heist / fantasy / survival horror)

Spaceships, Spies, and Spells: Near-future spies wield tech and magic against the alien invasion going on in the shadows.  (spy-fi / fantasy / sci-fi)

Planet and System Names

If you saw yesterday's post on Alien Race Names, you may have thought, "What? Only alien names? Isn't he missing one of the biggest naming categories in science fiction?" Right on the nose, of course. Just as important as alien race names (if not moreso) are the names of the various planets and star systems in which sci-fi games take place.

If you are using licensed IP, such as Star Wars or Star Trek, I recommend just digging up the wiki for those settings or looking at your local library for a relevant encyclopedia. It's likely to be easier than making up names, and it will help your game feel like it's really set in those universes. And, of course, if your game is only set in the Sol system, I'd suggest looking up the names of the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, since there are enough orbiting bodies in this system for plenty of adventures. Finally, you might simply take the Stargate SG-1 route, and give everything an alphanumeric designation, such as PJ2-445 or P3W-451.

But, if you're looking to create unique(ish), original(ish) names for your planets and stars, here are some tables to get you started.

Planet and System Names

First half

1. Ivo-
2. Maka-
3. Dörre-
4. Musta-
5. Bète-
6. Guisi-
7. Sulu-
8. Uftúra-
9. Homma-
10. Nsâto-

Second half

1. -rana
2. -far
3. -molo
4. -táza
5. -legas
6. -wîle
7. -ban
8. -thàn
9. -kat
10. -läch

Prefix

1. Blue
2. Bright
3. Neo
4. New
5. Far
6. Alpha

Suffix

1. Cluster
2. Beta
3. Minor
4. Major
5. Tau
6. I, II, III, IV, V, VI, etc.

Basic names

1. Heinlein
2. Adams
3. Butler
4. Asimov
5. Clarke
6. Verne
7. Le Guin
8. Vonnegut
9. Bradbury
10. Lem

Alien Race Names

In science fiction RPGs, I find that one of the hardest aspects in the creation stage is coming up with good names, especially names for alien races. The name has to sound just right, and not only that, it also has to fit the characteristics of the alien race. Unless you're running a humor game, having a race of spike-covered warmongering alien soldiers called the Loofies is going to be problematic.

So, I present to you some tables for creating a name for your alien race.

Alien Race Names

There are a few different ideas presented here. I present some full names, some first halves, and some second halves in each table. Use one wholecloth if that works for you, or mix and match until you find something that sounds even better.

Warrior Race
1. Raxites
2. Drongians
3. Kor-
4. Vreth-
5. -ozites
6. -tans

Technological Race
1. Zenzar
2. Xellorans
3. Grat-
4. Ath-
5. -ulie
6. -ips

Scholarly Race
1. Mellians
2. Siskeels
3. For-
4. Nab-
5. -ophans

6. -i

Random Encounters: Unexplored Sci-Fi World (Again!)

So, I had a lot of fun the last time I did the three random encounter tables for the Unexplored Sci-Fi World. I enjoyed the outcome so much, in fact, that I've decided to do another set with the same theme. All you have to do is roll 1d6 for each table and use the results to design your own encounter.

Enjoy!

Creature

1. A cloud of glowing, sentient orbs the size of golf balls
2. Rubbery slime-beast with strangling tentacles
3. Jackal-headed humanoid with telekinesis and telepathy
4. A holographic projection of a humanoid with rudimentary AI
5. Cave dwellers that seem to be human
6. Huge serpents that spring up out of the ground

Environment feature

1. A hail of burning meteorites strikes the area
2. A patch of thick vegetation that grows back within moments of being cut is in the way
3. A pool of thick, black tar bubbles in the area
4. A heavy bank of fog hangs in the air
5. Light rain drizzles down, pinging against metal somewhere nearby
6. A wide fallen tree provides cover

Surprise

1. The creature is only a projected aspect of a more powerful, dangerous entity
2. A swarm of tiny, ravenous ant-like creatures bursts forth from the ground
3. A metallic net emerges and sweeps everyone into the air
4. Energy blasts whiz overhead as armored soldiers come through the brush
5. The creature flees from a bellowing roar that comes from behind
6. A crack of thunder precedes a lightning storm

More High-Tech Weapons

I've got a short post today that's a sequel to this one from February. I had another burst of inspiration for high-tech weapons, and thought I'd share a few more ideas.

More High-Tech Weapons

1. Superheated plasma magna-lance
2. Matter entropy inductor rifle
3. Ambient sonic amplifier
4. Instant transducer cannon with DNA-coded targeting
5. High-cycle energized particle cannon
6. Anti-proton grenade ("p-bar grenade")

Genre Mash-Ups

I love a good crossover or mash-up, and I'm not the only one.

I think that part of the appeal (especially in RPGs) is to create something new, but retain the ability to make easy reference for new players. If you create an entirely original setting idea, then you have to explain a ton of details to everyone just to establish the basic concept. But if you start with a mash-up setting, then you can explain the basic concept with a few words. For example, Shadowrun can describe itself as "Lord of the Rings meets Neuromancer," and people who know those references will have an immediate idea of what kind of world it might be.

I occasionally pull specific examples for mash-ups (see my cyberpunk-Star Wars idea), but generally I prefer to use basic genres, like paranormal and noir. Once I've picked a couple of genres, I isolate a few key elements and see if there's any overlap or stark contrast, and if there is, then I can create a basic framework. After that, it's just a matter of zooming in to the level of detail I want.

Here are a few of my favorite genre mash-ups ideas.

Genre Mash-Ups

Renaissance Resistance: Roman gods return in 1502 to rule Italy through death & fear. Leonardo da Vinci leads the rebels. (clockpunk / dystopia)

Steel and Flesh: Merciless scientific guilds rule from ivory towers. Cyborg rebels follow a bushido and defend the people. (transhumanist / samurai)

Hack the Devil: PCs are hackers with arm-mounted Enochian keyboards that they use to hack reality and counter the forces of Satan throughout the solar system. (paranormal / sci-fi / cyberpunk)

Solar Civil War: Cadets are the only hope for the Union Alliance when the Liberty Confederation ambushes the Solar Fleet. (historical / space opera)

W.E.I.R.D.: In ’47, the Bureau acquired alien tech. Now, 10 years later, they’ll have to use it to stop monsters from Faerie. (paranormal / atomic age)

Trojan War Heroes: Legendary Greek heroes go to Troy by themselves to defeat the Trojan army with their unique fighting styles. (wuxia / mythic)

A Fistul of Neurons: Old West lawbringers arrive in the cyberpunk future and attempt to bring their own style of justice to the dystopia. (western / cyberpunk)

Press Start: PCs are classic video game characters who must recover the pieces of the Genesis Code before an alliance of villains can reboot the universe. (adventure / humor)

Six-Word Sparks IX: Sci-Fi Secrets

The high-tech advancements in science fiction have a profound effect on secrecy, much like the effect of magic on mysteries. Not only do the secrets themselves become grander and more dangerous, but the method for keeping them hidden becomes much deadlier and/or more complicated.

These secrets, for instance, could cause galactic panic. And in some cases, that panic may already be widespread, and the secret is the key to stopping or reversing it.

Six-Word Sparks

1. Explorers investigating micro-nebula haven't returned.
2. Strange signal emanates from star's heart.
3. Warping indicates hidden mass affecting travel.
4. Ancient shielded station finally lowers shield.
5. Powerful AI goes offline: sabotage suspected.
6. Supermassive black hole collapses, reveals planet.
7. Nanoatomic particles discovered; nanoverse portal opened.
8. Exotic radiation washes over peaceful planet.
9. Closer and closer stars are exploding.
10. "Quantam Zone" spreads, physics go haywire.

Even More Adventure Sites

I am still enjoying creating adventure sites, small areas ripe for conflict and containing something of value to the PCs. These are generally pretty straightforward locations where the PCs can storm in, kill some obvious bad guys, and make off with the treasure.

If your players are going off the beaten path, shunning your intricately prepared situations and dynamic NPCs in favor of action and black-and-white morality, these adventure sites are for you.

Tombs and Crypts

Hall of the Deepfather (high fantasy)

Location: An old stone pillar indicates the entrance is 2 miles west of the old dwarf road
Areas: The entrance, the hall of tales, the entombment
NPCs: Glower (stone guardian)
Obstacles: Glower lets no one pass the entrance without a tributary poem to the Deepfather, the hall of tales is filled with enchanted tapestries that draw onlookers into a series of dangerous magical reenactments of the Deepfather's dangerous adventures (each with its own obstacles)
Rewards: The Deepfather's Wisdom (an enchanted hammer) lies atop his stone form in the entombment, behind the tale-telling tapestries in the hall of tales are small caches of gems and coins
Hook: A pair travelers standing in the middle of the road are discussing whether or not they have time to visit the Hall of the Deepfather and try to claim its glorious treasure.

The Vault (science fiction)

Location: Orbiting a small, unobtrusive moon in an uninhabited system
Areas: The cryostasis prison chamber, the cryogenerator, the internal monitor station
NPCs: Alteph (ancient guard), Alkrek (ancient criminal)
Obstacles: The Vault's external airlock has complex security (though it is very, very old), the cryogenerator room is venting energy and is deadly cold, Alkrek is an ingenious trickster and a murderer who has escaped his stasis pod since the cryogenerator started malfunctioning
Rewards: Only Alkrek knows where his ancient stash of loot is, the portable power core in the cryogenerator room is intact and valuable
Hook: The Vault has a begun venting energy, giving it a very visible signature on any ship's nav system.

The McIntosh Mausoleum (urban fantasy)

Location: In the new part of the city's largest cemetery
Areas: The outer mausoleum, the burial chamber, the cave
NPCs: The Shadow (magical deal-maker)
Obstacles: Ghouls (the corpses of deceased McIntosh clan members) lurk in the outer mausoleum, a ward against iron and steel separates the outer mausoleum from the burial chamber, the Ravenous One dwells in the dark of the cave (accessed through the burial chamber)
Rewards: The Shadow can basically grant any wish (for a sinister price), the McIntosh ghouls are adorned with jewelry
Hook: A message appears from the Shadow claiming he can solve all of the PCs' woes.

The Sunken Barrow (low fantasy)

Location: In the center of the Willow Marshes

Areas: The stairs, the flooded corridor, the king's tomb, the treasure room
NPCs: Maladwin of Hillhold (wealthy merchant)
Obstacles: The stone stairs are crumbling and may collapse beneath the weight of explorers, the flooded corridor slowly descends into water and is slick, the king's tomb is home to a school of large carnivorous fish
Rewards: The treasure room holds a rotted wooden chest of silver pieces, an unrusted (and still sharp) steel sword is buried with the king himself
Hook: Maladwin of Hillhold is scouring the nearby settlements looking for someone to enter the barrow and recover the treasure she believes it holds, for a cut.

DynaCorp Subbasement* (post-apocalypse)

Location: The ruins of the DynaCorp building are visible for miles.
Areas: The access shaft, the cubefarm, the break room
NPCs: Sze Xian (trapped scavenger)
Obstacles: The access shaft is dangerously prone to collapse, the cubefarm is home to dozens of irradiated zombies
Rewards: Sze Xian (unarmed) is holed up in the break room along with a valuable data disk, several of the zombies carry valuables, a rifle and ammunition lying at the top of the access shaft
Hook: There were reports of screaming from the DynaCorp ruins last night.

*This one is kind of a cheat, but I figured with so many dead ex-DynaCorp employees, it might as well be a tomb in its own right.

Random Encounters: Unexplored Sci-Fi World

Three tables! That's right, just three tables are all you need to generate a random sci-fi encounter on an unexplored world. Don't believe me? Roll on the tables yourself! Combine the results and you'll be ready for your PCs to beam down and start exploring.

Creature

1. Massive furry herbivore and her babies
2. A pack of agile predators hunting by stealth
3. Peaceful natives with superior intellect
4. Wild-eyed survivor of a previous expedition
5. Clusters of sentient plants that track movement
6. Friendly doglike creatures, apparently tame

Environment feature

1. Thick, heavy, indigo underbrush with barbed thorns
2. A constant geyser of boiling water
3. A pool of water that echoes with laughter
4. A river of molten rock churns through the area
5. Clouds of poisonous gas hang in the air, drifting at random
6. Gravity here is much heavier than standard

Surprise

1. A giant predator arrives, looking for its next meal
2. An enormous boulder plummets to the ground from somewhere high above
3. Winged humanoids arrive, armed to the teeth
4. The area is actually the back of a titanic creature that is awakening
5. An unknown starship passes close overhead
6. The creature dissolves into a puddle of purplish goo


In doing these tables, it occurred to me that you could incorporate pretty much any creature, any natural environment feature, and any surprise into an unexplored sci-fi world.

Random Encounters: Cyberpunk Bar

This post continues my new random encounters series in which I present three tables. By rolling on each of these tables, you can generate a random encounter for a specific genre in a specific environment. Today's tables are for a bar somewhere in a gritty cyberpunk city.

Creature

1. Corrupt peace officer
2. Corporate executive who is high/drunk/not in her right mind
3. Pusher with a brand new batch of product
4. Professional pickpocket
5. Down-on-her-luck hacker
6. Street tough with a chip on her shoulder

Environment feature

1. There was a fight minutes ago, and the floor is still covered in alcohol, blood, and broken glass
2. The bar is virtually empty of patrons
3. The bar is packed with rowdy sports fans drinking and singing at the tops of their lungs
4. The bar is brightly lit and spotless
5. The pool table is busted, but there's a whole row of pool cues lined up against the wall
6. There's a dance floor smack in the middle of the room and an old-fashioned jukebox in the corner

Surprise

1. The bartender's arm transforms into a heavy-duty shotgun and he tells you to get out
2. There's a blackout, disabling the lights and the security grid in the bar
3. Corporate security goons burst in to capture/kill a specific target
4. The creature is revealed to be an android in disguise
5. The back wall flickers momentarily, revealing that it is just a projected hologram
6. An explosion from the kitchen rocks the whole bar

More Adventure Sites

I thoroughly enjoyed whipping up a couple of adventure sites yesterday, so today I thought I'd share some more. These are distinctly science fiction sites, although there's a bit of fantasy mixed in for good measure.

Derelict Starship Atira

Location: About 2 days from the nearest merchant starport
Areas: The cargo bay, the bridge, the engine room, the living quarters
NPCs: Stewart (damaged AI program), 6-LT8 (possessed automaton)
Obstacles: The crane in the cargo bay "malfunctions" near intruders, the engine room is full of live wires and ready-to-burst steam pipes, 6-LT8 is hiding in the living quarters waiting to attack any creatures of flesh
Rewards: A crate of info crystals are hidden in Atira's cargo bay, a starchart in the bridge indicates a planet not found on standard starcharts, the keystone gear in 6-LT8 is flooded with demonic energy
Hook: Stewart's confused and scared voice echoes across the emergency frequency, asking for help in broken sentences

Smuggler's Hideout

Location: Behind an unmarked door down a dark corridor in the starport

Areas: The lounge, the storage room, the hangar

NPCs: Ton s'Kar (red-skinned gangster), Mora Hallon (corrupt customs officer), Jan Matson (rookie security guard)

Obstacles: The lounge is filled dangerous smugglers, Mora and Ton (both armed) are in the hangar, the storage room has an advanced locking mechanism

Rewards: The storage room contains illicit trade goods, the hangar has a Jump-class single-occupant rocket (assuming Ton doesn't escape in it)

Hook: Jan accidentally leads the PCs into the hideout while he's looking for a backup scanner to verify the PCs' credentials

Quarantined Restaurant

Location: Across the street from the PCs' accommodations

Areas: The bar, the kitchen, the basement

NPCs: Felk Whince (trapped chef)

Obstacles: Quick-growing fungus covers most surfaces in the bar, a fire is beginning to spread in the kitchen, Felk is trapped beneath a fungus-covered icebox, a spore-spreading mound with acidic tentacles lurks in the basement

Rewards: Felk Whince has important information to share if he can be rescued, a sample of the lurker from the basement would be worth a lot of money in the wrong hands

Hook: The restaurant was recommended to the PCs by a trusted friend or colleague recently (before it became quarantined)

Abandoned Mining Facility

Location: On a small asteroid a few days from the space station

Areas: The hangar, the barracks, the supervisor's office, the micro-refinery, the mineshafts

NPCs: ODM-7 (security AI)

Obstacles: ODM-7 will attempt to repel unauthorized ships that approach the asteroid, the supervisor's office is locked and barricaded, the superheated automatons wander around the micro-refinery, a predatory aura lurks in the shadows of the mineshafts

Rewards: The refined ore in the micro-refinery is valuable, a black metal box deep in the mineshaft defies all scanning techniques

Hook: An AI specialist at the space station is looking for someone to track down and bring back the personality matrix of ODM-7

Campaign Sparks IV

Here's another campaign spark, 100-150 words that describe a setting, a conflict, a handful of NPCs, the stakes, and a twist. You can use these details to generate an entire campaign. This particular one is set in the Star Wars universe, but it's not attached to any system and you could easily sub out the Star Wars elements for your own space opera fluff.

Rebellion: Shadow War

Early in the Rebel Alliance, the hyperspace Datanet in the core of Coruscant reaches across the galaxy. The Datanet is policed by Imperial Intelligence, communications are monitored, and the Rebellion is being smothered, unable to recruit online.

Commander Surk (Human) is in charge of policing the Datanet for Rebels and sympathizers. Sekai Tanel (Mon Calamari) is a hacker crime lord. Engas Darv (Bith) is a weapons engineer on the run from the Empire. Bans ni Mikar (Human) is an officer of the Coruscant Planetary Police.

Soon, the Datanet will be so restricted that the Rebellion will fall apart. But the Datanet is old—very old—and if Imperials, Rebels, or criminals change it too much, it will activate its ancient defense systems: an enormous robot army hidden in a hyperspace pocket.

NPC: A.L.E.X.

Back in 2014, there was a St. Valentine's Day contest going on at Tabletop Adventures. The goal was to create an NPC designed to be a romantic interest for one or more PCs. There were quite a few entries, as I understand it, and I did not win. But, two of my entries (one sci-fi, one fantasy) were included in the PDF that was released, and A.L.E.X. is my favorite of those two.


Name: A.L.E.X. (Artificial Life-Emulating Xenoform)

Physical Description: A.L.E.X. is a cloud of quantum-linked energy which can inhabit any suitable electro-crystalloid matrix. In other words, A.L.E.X.’s physical description matches whatever ship, supercomputer, or crystal network it currently inhabits. Given the opportunity to generate a hologram or design a physical body, A.L.E.X. would not know where to start. It would probably request a question and answer series from the being that prompted it to describe itself in the first place.

How Did You Meet?: A.L.E.X. is likely to be found aboard any type of starship, but particularly those bound for unknown space. Of course, A.L.E.X. might be found working for any organization requiring its unique intelligence, at least temporarily.

Personality and Motivations: A.L.E.X. is motivated primarily by curiosity. It does not know its own origin, nor does it know much about life. Since it is not a traditional computerized intelligence, it cannot simply upload or download information in the traditional method. The price for its services as a quantum analysis specialist is often that someone read a textbook or feed images into a specially designed processor one at a time. A.L.E.X. is also interested in the emotions of other life forms. It doesn’t understand the concepts loneliness or desire, though A.L.E.X. feels them as sharply as any sapient being.

Quote: “I am A.L.E.X., a quantum nonphysical intelligence. What do they call you?”

Six-Word Sparks V: Science Fiction

This blog is fairly heavily dominated by fantasy content. There are lots of orcs, wizards, and dragons floating among the numerous tables. But I like to take a break from that, occasionally, and when I am in the mood for a good space opera or dying Earth game, I may not have time to come up with a whole adventure to play out.

Luckily, I have my handy-dandy six-word sparks at hand. And today's are sci-fi themed for all your robot/laser/starship needs.

Six-Word Sparks

1. New intergalactic starship's secret fuel: blood.

2. Interstellar merchants sell energy cheaply. Why?

3. Bounty hunter seeks spurned alien lover.

4. Android scientist uncovers new spatial dimension.

5. Solar winds vex disoriented refugee caravans.

6. Inhabited aquatic planet's oceans evaporating rapidly.

7. Star vanishes; worlds begin freezing, drifting.

8. Enormous ship tows away entire planet.

9. Laser weapons malfunctioning throughout star system.

10. Sub-ether information network gains sentience.

(And if you need encounter ideas for any of these sci-fi adventures, check out this old post with random spaceport encounters.)

Mook Box III: Killer Robots

Out of my mook box, I pull out another common enemy: the killer robot.

The killer robot is the perfect minion of the alien overlords, the mad scientists, and (if you give it an arcane or steampunk flair) the diabolical sorcerer.

Killer robot

D20 System

HP: 34 | Ref: -3 | Fort: n/a | Will: +6

AC: 16 (Flatfooted: 16 | Touch: 7)

Speed: 20 ft.

Fist of steel +8 atk | 2d8+4 

Raygun +1 atk | 4d6 fire dmg | 60 ft. | x3

- Limb disintegration (Fort DC 14)

Powers: DR 5/adamantium

Skills: knowledge (logic) +10

Vulnerabilities: illogical thought (as confusion for 1 round), magnetization (Will DC 16 or 4d6 dmg)

Treasure: high-frequency energy core

Risus

Individual Clichés

Logical precision (2), Strength of steel (4)

Grunt Squad Cliché

Merciless automaton death squad who think and act as one (11)

Wushu

Mooks

Threat Rating: 24

Hits per Round: 2

Nemesis

Chi: 3

Traits: Retro-Future Plasti-Steel Body (5), Nuclear-Powered Raygun (4), Vacuum-Tube Brain (3)

The Window

The killer robot has…

… inexorable Strength (d6)

… stiff, clunky Agility (d20)

… steel-reinforced Endurance (d10)

… instant and infallible Cunning (d8)

… electronic Perception (d10)

The killer robot is…

… a deathless automaton (d12)

… precise with a raygun (d8)

… susceptible to magnets (d30)

The killer robot carries…

… a partly charged heat-ray emitter

… a high-frequency energy core

NPC: Craig the Battle Droid

Almost a year ago, I entered Haste's April's Fool contest. I was one of the winners, but they never really got around to posting the NPCs. I actually had two entries (both of which won for their category), but here's my favorite of the two.

Craig the Battle Droid

Quote: “Prepare to be eliminated! … Let me know when you’re prepared, okay?”

Appearance: Craig is a towering monstrosity of UltraCarbon™ and steel.  He is ten feet tall and weighs just over two tons, including a full complement of ammunition.  Craig has a vaguely humanoid appearance, but his feet end in rocket-propelled treads, while one arm ends in a rotating rocket cannon and the other ends in a patented Crushalon Pincer® claw.  He has no mouth (just internal speakers), but his hooded eyes glow alternatingly red or green.

Roleplaying: Craig was built as a weapon of war and destruction, but his programming was jumbled with that of a passive butler droid.  As an enemy, Craig never initiates combat, though he does defend himself (apologizing after every attack).  As an ally, Craig is an unreliable combatant since his passive butler programming interferes with his military design.  As a servant, however, Craig is a talented butler, though the occasional burst of flame or hail of bullets is to be expected.

Personality: Craig’s butler programming is definitely the dominant force of his personality.  He is polite and humble, willing to help anyone who isn’t actively an enemy.  He is very knowledgeable about all things butler-related.  When his military design surfaces, however, Craig is unpredictable.  He is armed with the brilliance of a general, the skill of a commando, and the ordnance of a large tank.  Of course, even in fits of violence, Craig’s butler programming rears its head in polite apologies and concern for his enemies.

Motivation: Craig desperately wants to fit in somewhere.  He is not up to par with other similar battle droids, but no one seems to want him as a butler either.  Characters who treat Craig with respect and kindness find him a trusty friend.  Those who scorn or mock Craig soon trigger his violent side.

Background: The company responsible for the Kill-O-Droid line of battle droids built Craig as a prototype.  Unfortunately, a tired programmer inadvertently uploaded the AI for a Butlematic.  Craig promptly failed all of the preliminary tests and the clients refused the new contracts.  As such, Craig is the only battle droid of his kind; though somewhere out there is a Butlematic with the programming of a Wartronic Assault Tank.

High-Tech Weapons

Back in 2012, I played a tabletop game called Mechaton (now called Mobile Frame: Zero).  Mechaton, in short, is a miniatures wargame about mechs, but the mechs are built out of LEGO bricks.  It was the first tabletop wargame I'd ever played, and I was able to merge LEGO into my tabletop gaming.

Aside from the visceral pleasure of building fighting robots with LEGO pieces, the thing I enjoyed most was coming up with descriptions for the various pieces of equipment with which I outfitted my LEGO robots.

It could be the abundance of complex adjectives (I'm an English major), or it could be that I never got into gritty science fiction.  Whatever the cause, phrases like "85mm Anti-Materiel Rifle" and "Broad-Spectrum Frequency Disruptors" really sparked my imagination

I don't usually run sci-fi or modern games, but on the few occasions that I have, working these kind of weapons into the game has given my players the same kind of light in their eyes that I had.

If you're running a sci-fi game, you might find these weapons (a mix of near-future and space opera) interesting for either your players or your NPCs.

High-Tech Weapons

1. Reversible Ion Projector ("Ripper") 2. Collapsible high-carbon-steel sword 3. Pneumatic brass knuckles 4. Laser-channeled plasma pulse rifle 5. Full-auto chain-fed magnum pistols with armor-piercing tracer rounds 6. Compact, heavy-draw crossbow with thermite-tipped bolts 7. Tesla whip 8. Particle-grenade launcher 9. Automatic 12-gage three-barreled shotgun with dragonsbreath slugs 10. High-spectrum contained-projection blade

And if you're running a modern or near-future game, you can still include these kind of weapons without too much discomfort. Just give out one and call it a military prototype. For extra fun, give the project that developed the prototype weapon a cool name.

Secret Military Project Code Name

1. Black Dragon, Mk II 2. Operation FENIX 3. Hyperion project 4. Gupta-Smith device