Take the bug leg (which I would have picked up, but thought someone else had) to the scholar place and tell them the story about the encounter. Give them a general idea of where on the map it was.
Name: Terra Iris
Appearance: A stocky, brooding woman with dark hair and darker eyes
Stats:
Strength: D8
Dexterity: D10
Endurance: D10
Speed: D4
Knowledge: D4
Wisdom: D4
Perception: D4
Charisma: D4
HP: 32
(Max 32)
SP: 16
(Max 16)
Weapons:
Deathray (dex xd10)
Armor:
Helm (d6 head)
Tunic (d6 body and abdomen)
Carry Weight: 8 (
Items:
Deathray
Biogel
Arklamp
Industrial Tunic
Helmet
Beartrap (str)
Oxygen mask
Bug leg
Money: 0
You head to the Universal Survey building and wait in line behind other explorers turning in their info and specimens. You have to wait a bit as people before you try and fail to negotiate higher bounties. When your turn comes the young man in the kiosk tells you to put the leg in the scanner to the right of him. He then presses a button and tells you to explain the situation into the microphone set in the plastic wall of his kiosk. You do so, explaining things as concisely and accurately as you can, hoping it might be worth more if you present it well. After you finish the man types for a good solid 30 seconds before speaking to you again.
"We already have a good deal of anecdotal evidence about this creature but this is the first physical specimen we have encountered. The Universal Survey group awards you 443 standard credits for your find."
A slot in the front of the kiosk disgorges the money while a high speed automated message talks about how you have given up all rights to this specimen etc etc. You take the money and walk back outside, stuffing it into your pocket.
Hmm. see if we can buy better armor here. Either higher defense or broader defense for fewer slots. Something like d4 armor bodysuit in one slot would be great. Also see if I can buy a second monorazor. It's never a bad idea to carry backup.
Name: Xeriay Jattle
Appearance: A short and thin teenage girl, with hair bleached grey by the light of a harsh sun. The backs and palms of her hands are tattooed with eyes, and her arms with blades. Doesn't like to talk and jumps at unexpected sounds. She was recruited by a paramilitary cult from a young age and honed her skill with a blade until she was rescued by her adoptive father.
Strength: d8
Dexterity: d8
Endurance: d6
Speed: d10
Knowledge: d4
Wisdom: d8
Perception: d8
Charisma: d4
HP: 32/32
SP: 24/24
Armor: d6 head-torso-abdomen
Inventory 8/8
Mono-razor: (Spd) (Spd Roll, breaks on 1)
Death Ray: (Dex) (Xd10)
Biogel: (Recover d10 HP)
Autoharness: (Allows automatic movement via filament.)
Arclamp: (Provides bright omnidirectional light.)
Oxygen Mask & Tank: (Allows one to survive in areas with unbreathable atmosphere, presumably. May also explode.)
Helmet: (d6 armor, protects Head)
Industrial Tunic: (d6 Armor, protects Torso and Abdomen)
Kander sighs, then pats Xeriay on the head. "Very good work, girl. Seems you're more adapted to the frontier life than me. These people ain't the sort I'm used to."
He picks himself up slowly, stretching awkwardly. "Have you been eyeing anything? We've got a lot of spare change right now, and you deserve to have some spent on you. Think on it some, I'll ask around to see if there's any better work for us."
First, I'm going to say the filament cartridges I had intended to donate to Dev at the start of the game are now Kander's, because Dev's never put them on his sheet. Prolly doesn't want charity. Try and buy a filament gun off someone. Only 100, right?
Secondly, ask around for two things; one, some kinda mission that would pay decently, and two, a route inside the Enigma. Down into the belly of the beast.
Heal by 1 each turn.
Name: Kander Jattle
Appearance: A heavily built middle aged man with a gentle look in his eyes, that contrasts with a silver scar on the right side of his face which runs from his temple to his chin. He's a veteran of a relatively minor uprising on a border planet, during which time he worked as a low level field officer. He retired most of a decade ago after a severe head injury, and has been living comfortably and quietly off of his earnings from service. He's enjoyed his quiet life, and isn't eager to go on dangerous adventures... but he was more or less begged to go on this expedition by his adoptive daughter, who was a child soldier he rescued during his military service.
Stats:
Str: d8
Dex: d4
End: d4
Spd: d4
Kno: d8
Wis: d4
Per: d10
Cha: d10
HP: 16/20
SP: 32/32
Armor: None!
Items: 4/8
War Drum (1d8 str, +1d12 Cha Buff)
Autoharness
Liquidoplas Bomb
Liquidoplas Bomb
Small Autocage
---Carries 3 Filament Cartridges, 1 arclamp, 5 bait, 1 stimulant, 1 biogel, 1 logbook
Money: 700
[6,2, 8] Xeriay Perception leveled up.
Kander and Xeriay wander into the bustling market and search around. Kander is searching specifically for a filament gun while Xeriay is more vague in her desires, simply on the look out for more armor. Kander, proving to be oddly oblivious in non-deadly situations, completely overlooks several Filament guns only for Xeriay to eventually take his hand and guide him to a used one for 80 credits. He buys the gun and the two of them continue searching for new armor. Eventually Xeriay finds a small shop selling what the shop keep readily admits are items scavenged from dead explorers. They're ghoulish but cheap, and some things here aren't available at other shops. The one that catches Xeriay's eye is an Apprentice suit.
Apprentice Suit: (1d4 armor, all but head) A standard jumpsuit worn by Guild apprentices. Covers the whole body, except for the head. A sort of low level spacesuit, designed to be used with a Guild Helmet. Form fitting, bright orange, with embedded padding on the shoulders, elbows, knees, hips and just about any other bony part that would be uncomfortable to smash into metal. These suits are only distributed to members of the Shipbreaker's guild.
The shopkeeper tells Xeriay the suit is 300 credits. As Xeriay disappears into the back of the shop to try the suit on, Kander speaks to the shopkeeper about work and about a path into the Enigma proper. The second question is quickly answered: apparently the big hole directly west of here is the main way in. He says there's rumors of a secret entrance near the northwest engine but he's seen no proof of it. As per work, There's a few options. Most guys just do their own exploring and looting, dropping most stuff off with the Universal Survey and selling or keeping the rest. The survey has specific bounties available but they're pretty rare right now; not enough is known for them to be sending out specific search parties. Other than that, Vernierville has jobs of its own. There are the more dangerous ones, which are listed mainly at the "Pilot Light" bar down the road, and of course menial ones around town. There's also the fight pit set up in the center of town; they're always paying for contestants or critters.
Xeriay returns in the suit. Its a bit loose on her, but fits well enough.
Name: Anton Barrick
Description: a generic human male.
Stats:
STR: d10
DEX: d8
END: d8
SPD: d10
KNO: d8
WIS: d6
PER: d10
CHA: d6
HP: 24/36
SP: 30/30
Carry: 6/10
Items:
Helmet (d6 armor, head only)
Therma-Ray (DEX) (d8)
Fragment of the void
Human bone prayer beads
weird crystal shard
Electromagnet module
Money:0
Follow the group and keep searching for valuables. Where are we again?
Go with ze boat. Paddle.
Description: Young, mid twenties kid with skinny limbs and body. Ink enthusiast.
Strength d4
Dexterity d10
Endurance d6
Speed d10
Knowledge d4
Wisdom d6
Perception d6
Charisma d4
HP 30
SP 20
Filament Gun (100)
Death Ray (500)
Specimen Container (Damaged Robot Skull) (30)
Filament Cartridge (10)
Cash: 360
Having sat in quiet contemplation through an exploding squid and the construction of a mighty sailing vessel, Gambatta finally grins again.
"You know... all this fuel might make for a nice source of improvised incendiaries. We get some containers and a way to light it, and FWOOM! Probably us as bad as the critter, but even's a trade up from losing, eh? Wahahaha!"
Stretching, he hops down to the shore and glances around.
"Don't think we're gonna know what's out there til we hit it, though. Unless anyone's got any objections, I do believe our friend here's declared us eastbound."
Hop into the boat, wait for anyone who's coming with, and then start pulling east.
Name: Gambatta Ganyaro
Description: A kooky old man wearing an elaborate martial arts gi under his discount armor. As a proud grandfather and respected martial arts instructor, he's looking forward to retirement. His idea of retirement involves things you're not allowed to do when people are depending on you to be alive.
30/30 HP
24/24 SP
1d6 Strength
1d8 Dexterity
1d10 Endurance
1d6 Speed
-
1d6 Knowledge
1d6 Wisdom
1d6 Perception
1d6 Charisma
Items (5/6):
Industral Tunic (300): 1d6 Torso/Abdomen Armor
Helmet (50): 1d6 Head Armor
Human Bone Prayer Beads (300)
Galactic Slugger (150)
Small Autocage (200)
"Thanks for the help, uh, didn't catch your name, mine's Jim."
"No problem always glad to be helpful, and they call me Hobo Bob."
Get on the boat and have my therma-ray at the ready in case of attack.
Name: Hobo Bob
Description: A dirty man with unkempt hair and beard.
Strength: d8
Dexterity: d6
Endurance: d8
Speed: d6
Knowledge: d10
Wisdom: d6
Perception: d10
Charisma: d4
HP: 28/28
SP: 26/26
Weapons:
Therma-Ray: (Dex) (d8)
Thermo-Lash: (End)(1d8, leaps to another enemy for d4 and then d2)
Armour:
Helmet: (d6 armor, protects only the head)
Industrial Tunic: (d6 Armor, protects Torso and Abdomen)
Items: 7/8
Oxygen Tank
Arclamp
Therma-Ray: (Dex) (d8)
Helmet: (d6 armor, protects only the head)
Industrial Tunic: (d6 Armor, protects Torso and Abdomen)
Thermo-Lash: (End)(1d8, leaps to another enemy for d4 and then d2)
Glowing Organ
Money: 0
"Thanks for the help, uh, didn't catch your name, mine's Jim."
Heave Ho! Jim will keep his Therma-ray out and his eye on the water. Also, turn the arc lamp on.
stat points: 0
Name: Jim
Appearance: a young and wiry looking man
Strength: d8
Dexterity: d10
Endurance: d6
Speed: d8
Knowledge: d6
Wisdom: d4
Perception: d6
Charisma: d4
HP: 32/32
SP: 20/20
Armor:
Helmet (d6 Head)
Tunic (d6 abdomen and torso)
Weapons:
Therma-ray (Dex)(d8)
Items:8?/8
Fragment of the void
Therma-ray
Helmet
Arc-Lamp
Log Book
Specimen Container
Filament Gun (loaded with filament container)
Websilk Tunic (logo of favorite sportsball team)
Money: 90
-big mean swamp gribbly in the toxic sludge
-Central island can only seem to support simple fungi
-some squid-things ambush people near the shore of the island
--included is a rudimentary description of the creatures behavior and physiology, along with a rough sketch. Size estimates put the beast at 30ft long, including the tentacles
Everyone loads into the makeshift boat, scrabbling to find a good way to sit in the bowl without just clumping up in the center. Once they've found comfortable positions they begin the slow passage across the swamp. Everyone grabs hold of the Filament strand which crosses from the central island of the swamp over to the unseen east shore and together they pull. With 5 people all pulling at once in coordinated tugs progress is not difficult, but it is fairly slow. As they advance they pass several of the smaller islands of debris jutting out of the fuel sludge. These islands, most no more than 10 or so feet on their longest side, are overrun with strange fungal growths and multicolored mosses and molds that seem to be slowly eating the metal they're perched on. These were already visible from the central island but here, directly next to them, the group can see a variety of tiny fauna as well. Little crabs, mites, mollusks, and creatures that don't readily fit any preconceived group: one looks like a sort of totem pole of stones with thin tendrils reaching out from within porous rock.
As they move further east, away from the opening in the ceiling and the bright sunlight it lets in, the air grows cooler and the sludge grows thicker. Near the central isle the swamp has the constancy of watery mud, but as they near the eastern shore it thickens into a literal sludge so dense that the ship glides along atop it instead of floating within. The horrible chemical smell also lessens, fewer vapors rising from the cool sludge. By the time they pull the ship aground on the eastern shore its skidding across a crust of crystalized fuel.
The group climbs out of the boat, crunching across the shore of hardened sludge and onto solid metal. The sunlight coming from behind them has dulled to a dim amber glow, which illuminates the land ahead only vaguely. Ahead lies a crazed pile of geometric shapes, the spilled building blocks of a giant child. Each "block" is giant, at least 10 meters at its longest side, and made of a smooth and seemingly seamless metal. While many of these blocks are laying in completely random piles others appear to a rough pattern to them. An alien stonehenge that got badly shaken and partially collapsed. Some blocks even hang impossibly from their neighbors, clinging as though magnetized. Here and there one of these blocks is thorn open or even snapped in half, revealing a hollow interior and alien contents. After even a few moments of inspection the nature of this place becomes clear, especially in light of the group's accommodations on the trip here. This was a cargo bay and these were the alien equivalent of shipping containers. The crash has smashed what was likely neatly organized rows and piles into a shattered landscape of piled blocks. Stacks and strange formations remain as remnants of former organization.
As they take this cataclysmic sight in they notice something odd: lights flashing within. It is not constant, nor always from the same place, but like fireflies flickering on and off throughout the storage box ruins. Their sources are almost always hidden by the boxes; flashes of blue and red and yellow light briefly illuminating boxes in the dark distance. The sound of shifting and clattering metal echoes out here and there, filling the space before fading away. But one noise suddenly catches their attention; a rhythmic clank accompanied by a flashing red that rapidly grows closer. Before they can form any sort of coherent group reaction the source of the sound and light bounds out from the gap between two boxes and onto the metal shore.
Its a machine, not a living animal, that much is immediately clear. Shifting black and chrome, a metal skeleton and synthetic muscle. Its a quadruped, with a vague resemblance to a moose or Elk: long legs, heavy hooves, thick body with hulking shoulders, and a spherical head crowned with a branching array of metal spikes. The flashing red light is coming from a single camera eye set in the center of its spherical "head". The machine bounds across the metal shore for several more leaping strides before it catches sight of the group and slows to a stop. It stands perfectly still and stares at them for a long moment before suddenly rearing up with a klaxon bellow. Electricity courses up its metal antlers like a jacob's ladder and slams its hooves down with a resounding clank. It doesn't move towards the group but continues to stamp its feet and shuffle back and forth, as though readying to charge.
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Topic: DEEP SPACE: Space vampires and work safety (Read 36882 times)