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[Mooply]

It is the year 2073, the war has been lost, there were no victors. All that is left are the ashes...

The ruins of the old world lay before a solitary android, clothed heavily in scraps of fabric to keep out the dust and dirt. The only road was cracked and worn, the blades of grass continuing to tear apart the last bits of tarmac the old stone could keep together. Empty spires of the old world hung like skeletons in the sky, still echoing out the sudden shifts in their foundations. It had been exactly 3 days, 8 hours, 23 minutes, and 42 seconds since Alpha-7 had left its home on the outskirts of the city. The solar panels were shot, there was no other way to look at the situation. Jury-rigging could only extend the lifespan of the equipment so far. Alpha-7 knew this, but still it dreaded entering the city. Nobody could be trusted and everyone was looking out for themselves in this wretched place. Even worse, the humans liked to live here, still attached to the crumbling ruins. They were resentful beings, believing the robots to have caused the cataclysm. Alpha-7 didn't like to believe it, whatever the truth was.

There was only one place the solitary robot knew where to find new solar panels, though it was likely to be occupied by now. The old base of the Belters, an old market building to keep out the mutants and the corrupted machines out, had the finest solar array on its roof. Alpha-7 knew it well, it had built it.

The dust and wind kicked up again, blowing past Alpha-7's heavy rags concealing the delicate machinery beneath. Ahead of him, the old complex was visible. The building was an ancient wreck, even during the pre-war times. The building was brick-red in the evening sun, three stories tall, one single entrance barricaded with heavy steel. It was sandwiched between an apartment complex, half of it collapsed into the ground, and a firehouse. Sure enough, Alpha-7's instincts were correct; humans had moved in to the area. The solitary robot counted five of them in the three-way intersection ahead. They wore loose green garments to keep out the heat and gas masks to conceal their faces. In their hands they held rusted, old combat carbines, barely able to contain their energy cells at all. Rough barricades and old road blockers had been set up outside the building for some additional cover.

Alpha-7 pushed itself behind a rusted out grav jeep while checking the charge on its rifle. 10 shots left, enough to settle a fight, but not enough to take out an entire squad. However, Alpha-7 couldn't bring itself to just attack the strangers as threatening as they appeared to be. Alpha-7 quickly looked to both his sides, looking for alternative routes. To Alpha's left was an old petbot shop. To its right was an alleyway, cutting around to the right side of the Belter stronghold. These were options, but it would need to form a plan to handle this... maybe they were friendly?

What do you do?

What is this?

This is a cooperative suggestion game using GURPS as a rulebase. The game is scheduled to be a short adventure with a distinct beginning and end. The game provides GURPS LITE as a free reference but the game will utilize BASIC and ULTRATECH as its primary resources. To get a "good enough" understanding of how GURPS works, read GURPS LITE's first three pages. If you are unfamiliar with GURPS, the crash course is that it is a roll-under RPG using a 3d6 as its primary tool. If you have a skill level of 12, the goal is to roll a 12 or less. Even if you don't know what to do, you can just say "I want to do X." Feel free to ask any questions about the effects of the advantages and skills. A discord channel will be used to log all rolls of the game if you want verification or just want to hang out.

Spoiler: Alpha-7 Ability Breakdown (click to show/hide)

TRAITS

Voice: Skill bonus to talking. Pleasant to listen to.
Artificer: Skill bonus to artificer skills. Mechanics may be more friendly.
Reduced Consumption: Only needs a D-cell once a day.
Absolute Direction: Never confused on which way is North or what way is up.
Ambidexterity: Both hands are equally dominant.
Hard to Kill: Will be more difficult to kill if brought to negative health.
Loner: Refuses to be part of large groups. Needs plenty of personal space.
Social Stigma(Valuable Property): Robots are expensive and can be reprogrammed. Good targets.
Paranoia: EVERYONE IS OUT TO GET YOU.
Pacifism: Can't hurt anyone unless the enemy is a threat. No preemptive strikes.
Numb: Can't feel anything with touch.
Injury Tolerance: Reduced damage against projectiles and spears. Doesn't bleed.
Resistant: Can't be hurt by any metabolic hazard (gas, poison, etc.)
Unhealing: Needs to use a mechanic(robotics) roll to heal anything.
Electrical: EMP and high voltage electricity is your enemy.
Absolute Timing: Always know what time it is.
Digital Mind: Computer brain. Can do anything a computer does.
Doesn't Sleep: No need to sleep, ever.
Eidetic Memory: Never forget anything, ever.
Lightning Calculator: Can do any mathematic formula instantly, no matter the circumstance.
Reprogrammable: Can be reprogrammed to do what the programmer wants.

SKILLS

Alpha-7 is skilled at basic adventuring abilities, manipulating people with lies, using close-range swords, using long-range laser weapons, and repairing electrical devices.

Alpha-7 Character Sheet

Combat Cheat Sheet

GURPS LITE

Discord Channel

[StrawBarrel]

Travel to the old petbot shop.

[King Zultan]

Travel to the old petbot shop.

+1

[Mooply]

You head towards the old petbot shop, slinking as quietly as you can away from the cover of the grave jeep, and quickly taking your old rusted form inside.

(Sentinel hearing check) Rolled against 12. Result: [4,5,6] = 15. Margin of Failure: 3. Failure

The sentinels outside the Belter compound were too far away and too busy with their own conversations to notice. The petbot shop is a mid-sized room with most of its front torn off from the wear and tear of the elements. The aisles that were once stocked with cleaning droids, maintenance sweepers, and security droids were now almost completely bare and looted. Whatever wasn't looted seems to be collected into small junk piles. A cursory glance of the junk piles shows that they contain one cleaning droid, what looks like packets of thermal paste, scrap metal sheets, and half-burnt circuit boards. Exposed wiring hangs off the ceiling and occasionally lets out a small crack of static. The counter of the store is relatively intact with the register sitting atop it still, the contents untouched. Behind the counter there appears to be a safe with a small keypad lock. The keypad seems to also be wired to a small speaker.

At the very back of the store is a half-opened doorway to a stairway towards the cellar. There appears to be flickering orange light dancing behind the doorway.

Alpha-7 Status

Combat Cheat Sheet

[King Zultan]

Examine the cleaning droid and look at the piles of junk to see if there is any thing useful, then go and look at what is behind the door to the basement.

[Mooply]

You walk over to the pile of scrap and refuse, kneeling down and taking a closer look at the cleaning droid. It looks to be a quadruped, no taller than 30 cm off the ground, and is marked with the letters R7-889. You pull out your tools and attempt to crack open the case for a better look.

(Mechanic) Rolled against 12. Result: [1,4,6] = 11. Margin of Success: 1. Success

Looking at this droid more, there's no wonder it wasn't avoided during the looting. The R7-889 models were notorious for exploding, due to an easily managed hack of its systems, and for the extremely obnoxious noise they would make when turned on and working. While most of the wiring is alright, it's missing its central CPU, A C-cell to power it, and some wiring to replace the frayed connections. The wires would be no issue to replace but the CPU would need a better match. You go to search the other piles for anything of use.

(Search) Rolled against 12. Result: [4,3,4] = 11. Margin of Success: 1. Success

Searching through the junk piles reveals that there is, indeed, an intact R7-889 model CPU hidden among the garbage. You also find an old working zippo lighter, a box of screws, far too much thermal paste, a half-full bandage can, and enough scrap metal to improvise quite a bit. The bandage can might be useful if you were human, but as it stands it'll only function as an adhesive for your purposes. There's enough to rebuild the cleaning droid, but the C-cell is still missing. You could use the C-cell that's being used to keep your laser carbine charged, but that would leave you completely defenseless at range. You leave the items where they are right now and move towards the cellar doorway and slowly peak inside.

(Perception-1 due to darkness) Rolled against 11. Result: [4,5,3] = 12. Margin of Failure: 1. Failure

You can't make out much in the dark below besides the very basics. The stairs are rickety old wormwood and seem to have been repaired some time ago. The room seems to be a small one filled with old barrels and boxes. You see the flickering of orange light, the sound of a campfire, and the coughing of a man. The silhouette of the man is visible on the wall that you can see. The silhouette doesn't look to be armed, but you can't say for sure.

Alpha-7 Status

Combat Cheat Sheet

[King Zultan]

Keep the rifle ready and go down stairs and attempt to talk to the man.

[Mooply]

You carefully make your way down the rickety steps, keeping the laser carbine just ahead of yourself. As you reach the bottom of the steps, you are greeted by a man in heavy rags and a gasmask sitting by a fire. The fire's smoke billows past the empty crates and barrels and out a small back-alley window. The man's face is completely obscured but you can tell that he's quite on edge about your arrival. His body language is lax in all but his arm, which is saddled right on a laser pistol in his holster.

He keeps a firm grip on his side and states in a deep clear voice, "Why don't you lower that weapon, aye? I'm no threat, not unless you're planning something. Who are you?"

You lower your weapon but don't put it away. In return, he eases his hand off his holster. He'll probably kill you if you turn your back to him.

You reply, "My name is Alpha-7."

The man gives a shrug and brings a hand up to cough again, despite the mask being in the way, "Robot huh? Well... my name's Wilfred. What do you want?"

Alpha-7 Status

Combat Cheat Sheet

[King Zultan]

Ask him if he know anywhere that you could get solar panels or batteries.

[Mooply]

You carefully kneel down by the fire and ask, "My solar array was damaged and I need replacements. Know where I can find some?"

The man shifts uneasily by the fire and looks up towards the stairs, "Aye, you're just outside Grate's camp. He's got something like that on his roof. If you're looking to ask him, don't. Last person to try was caught and hung on a pole not too far from here."

The man shifts uneasily and he shakes his head.

He grumbles, "That was my partner. Not sure if they even had the decency to kill him."

You ask another question, "What about any batteries? Anything you know about?"

Wilfred gives a bit of a cough and says, "Extra batteries? Nothing I can help with there. Though the minefield might have a few left in some robot husks, if you're not shy about doing dangerous work. Just head East from here, you'll know it when you see it."

Alpha-7 Status

Combat Cheat Sheet

[King Zultan]

Thank him for the info and cautiously walk out of the basement, and then head off to the east towards the minefield.

[StrawBarrel]

Thank him for the info and cautiously walk out of the basement, and then head off to the east towards the minefield.

+1
Ask Wilfred if he needs anything, so we can keep an eye out for while scavenging.

[Mooply]

You say your farewells to Wilfred and ask, "Is there anything you need from there?"

He shakes his head, "Nothing I want from there. My place is here right now..."

You back away from the fire, keeping your front toward him all the time, before heading up the steps. You walk out the petbot shop, leaving behind the scrap for someone else to scurry through, away from Grate's stronghold, towards the East. The trek through the city is uneventful, giving you time to look on the cracked streets and pieces of swaying grass poking through. In a way, it is quite a serene sight.

It's not long until you come across what Wilfred said, the minefield. A desolate section of the city covered in complete rubble, broken piles of scrap, and half-destroyed buildings. An empty construction crane hangs high above a clearing, the iron claw still dangling precariously. You set yourself up on the edge of the field, surveying possible items of interest. In the distance, there appears to be a husk of an ogre titan, a massive machine of war. The titan was of humanoid design, nearly 25 feet tall and just as strong. The ogre titans would often contain a micro-fusion core, a valuable commodity that could potentially keep your home charged for a few years to come. The only issue is that you would have to trek across the minefield itself to get to it.

A few alternative routes do present themselves, however. On the far right side of your position, there seems to be a collapsed building that intersects with the ogre titan's chassis. Getting inside it would be quite easy, as there is a hole in its base not too far from your position. However, there seemed to be movement of some kind inside, and things that tread in these parts tend to be less than hospitable. On the far left side there appeared to be an old monorail. If it could be repaired, it may get you close enough over the titan in order to jump down, but it leaves little in the way of a return trip...

Alpha-7 Status

Combat Cheat Sheet

[King Zultan]

I say we go and examine the monorail, and look for a long rope or cable on the way.

[StrawBarrel]

I say we go and examine the monorail, and look for a long rope or cable on the way.

+1
Scouting the place out would be more beneficial before committing to either path to the titan.