Guest voodoo54 Posted August 10, 2008 Report Share Posted August 10, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Here ya go: http://skeletonkeygames.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=13689&it=1 http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=13689&it=1 Cool, Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTaylor Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? I've always liked the "find an alien thing and explore it" sci fi theme, like Rendezvous with Rama. Throw in some hazards and you have an interesting scenario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted August 11, 2008 Report Share Posted August 11, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? I've always liked the "find an alien thing and explore it" sci fi theme' date=' like Rendezvous with Rama. Throw in some hazards and you have an interesting scenario.[/quote'] But you need the hazards. Otherwise it is a travelogue, and your players will quickly become bored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maelstrom Posted August 13, 2008 Report Share Posted August 13, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Mongoose Publishing just released "760 Patrons" for Traveller. I just bought it. Should be full of rich chocolaty goodness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted August 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? . . . Killed by neutrinos . . . A heck of a thing to have on one's resumé. Why would a dead person need a resume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted August 13, 2008 Report Share Posted August 13, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Because he needs a job! Duh. *ba-dum-psh* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted August 13, 2008 Report Share Posted August 13, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Why would a dead person need a resume? Once you upload your most current brain scan into a fresh host body, you once again will need a resume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted August 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Here's a goofy one for you. New Havana is Cuba's only extraterrrestrial colony, located in Elysium Mons on Mars. Feeling vulnerable, it has purchased several missiles from Russia. These missiles could threaten US colonies on Mars. An American space cruiser, the USS Kennedy, is dispatched to investigate; it is met by a Russian space cruiser, the RFS Kruschev. Tensions mount as the two warships square off, their missiles locked on each other... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted December 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? I recently bought an old issue of Dragon Magazine that still had articles on other games. This issue had an article for Top Secret that allowed agents to fly into space via the Space Shuttle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? . . . Top Secret as the game, not the movie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted December 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? . . . Top Secret as the game' date=' not the movie?[/quote'] Yes, the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted December 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Here's a plot hook I adapted from Shadis Magazine. I changed most of the details and expanded on them, but I'm still working out the kinks. It's meant to be a beginning adventure for a campaign. The PCs are federal agents. They are sent to Mojave, California to meet with one of their contacts. The contact calls them at the motel and hands the PCs a disk. He claims that there is information about illegal activities on Tycho Base, on the Moon. He says he's being followed, but he believes he has eluded his pursuers. The next day, the PCs will learn that their contact has been found dead. If they contact the local authorities, they'll learn that he had been shot in the back of the head. A 9 mm bullet was extracted. Nobody reported hearing any gunshots, so it's probable a silencer has been used. If the PCs have access to a computer (very likely), they can read the disk. It contains information about a black market on Tycho Base. Some of the base's officials are implicated, but there is no hard evidence to convict them. If the PCs try to find the killers, they will have to talk to the locals. A homeless man will tell them he saw the contact being accosted by two large men. He can give a description of the men. The killers will try to leave town. If the PCs can catch them, they will be armed with semi-automatic pistols. They will surrender if they are wounded and will be willing to give information on the black market if they can cut a deal. The PCs would then be sent to Tycho base from the Mojave Spaceport. All lunar settlements are international communities by international law and therefore neutral territories. The officials may come from different nationalities. The PCs would have to be dicrete in their investigation. Furthermore, since weapons are not allowed on the Moon, they'll have to beat the bad guys with brains instead of bullets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted December 10, 2008 Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Furthermore' date=' since weapons are not allowed on the Moon, they'll have to beat the bad guys with brains instead of bullets.[/quote'] Or bare hands, blunt instruments, or hard vacuum. Interesting idea. A multinational station has interesting legal and social ramifications always. The ones on Earth that I know about tend to be supplied well enough (and lack any sort of cash-taking store) that there's no opportunity for a meaningful black market to develop. Sometimes a lively barter economy, but not cash in the usual sense. How large and diverse is the station (in terms of population)? That seems likely to be your biggest overhead in terms of scenario creation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted December 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Offhand, I was thinking of a few hundred, maybe even about a thousand people from several countries on Tycho Base (note there are other lunar settlements as well). They'd have to follow international laws in place, even if they remain citizens of their respective home countries. I imagine lunar and some Martian settlements to be a little more comfortable than those farther out, because they can access supplies from Earth more easily. They've also been established sooner and are more developed than those in the Jovian and Saturnian moons. They're by no means luxurious, however; the colonists still would have to rough it quite a bit. Another option: Given the tensions between the USA and China when the campaign begins, this could also be a place for espionage. International Martian settlements (some belong to one country only) can also be a setting for this type of campaign. A note on the firearms of this period. Firearms with Metal Storm technology are becoming more common, with caseless ammunition being the norm. However, they haven't perfected a suppressor for these types of guns at this time, so guns much like the ones we use today still see a lot of action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted December 12, 2008 Report Share Posted December 12, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Something I do not know, and haven't known anyone who's spent time at McMurdo well enough to have asked ... I have no clue what the, ah, sexual environment is down there. I do know they have condoms available, but I don't know anything more than that. There's room for a certain tension under such circumstances.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted December 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? They talked about sex in space in the History Channel's TV show The Universe this season. It's something I'd have to touch on in my campaign notes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted December 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Are there any blueprints for space stations and ground-based colonies out there? I haven't found too many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted February 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? While scientists often talk about how microgravity affects the human body, they also recognize the psychological effects of an extended stay in space. Any potential crew members and colonists would be carefully screened for any psychological problems before setting off, but some slip through the cracks. Others can develop such problems after an extended stay in space. Perhaps an NPC goes crazy on a space ship or space station. He decides humanity does not belong in space and attempts to sabotage the ship or station by setting a fire or deorbiting it so that it crashes it into a planet or moon. The PCs would have to stop him from doing so before he kills everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted February 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Space debris has long been a problem. Most spacecraft in the campaign have thick enough plates to prevent most debris from causing damage, but there is the off chance that a piece of debris will hit a vital spot. Maybe the engines or life support will be affected. The PCs must repair the damage before time runs out. Edit: This actually is a concern for STS-125, which is due to repair the Hubble Telescope one last time. The mission was originally set in October, but it was delayed until May of this year. NASA rolled out a second space shuttle (Atlantis) in case the first one (Discovery at that time) was disabled and the crew needed to be rescued. Atlantis is now scheduled to fly to the Hubble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Most asteroid mining stations are fully automated. The loads are picked up once or twice a year by the mining companies. It would be a relatively easy task for a hostile foreign power to sabotage a station or steal the ore. This would constitute an act of war, but if there are no witnesses and no proof, no accusation can be made on anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Space debris has long been a problem. Most spacecraft in the campaign have thick enough plates to prevent most debris from causing damage, but there is the off chance that a piece of debris will hit a vital spot. Maybe the engines or life support will be affected. The PCs must repair the damage before time runs out. Edit: This actually is a concern for STS-125, which is due to repair the Hubble Telescope one last time. The mission was originally set in October, but it was delayed until May of this year. NASA rolled out a second space shuttle (Atlantis) in case the first one (Discovery at that time) was disabled and the crew needed to be rescued. Atlantis is now scheduled to fly to the Hubble. That problem got worse last week. An old Soviet satellite hit one of the Iridium satellites last week. Lots and lots more debris now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? That problem got worse last week. An old Soviet satellite hit one of the Iridium satellites last week. Lots and lots more debris now. I heard about that. Lots more stuff to watch out for. Check out this link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? That problem got worse last week. An old Soviet satellite hit one of the Iridium satellites last week. Lots and lots more debris now. It could get worse. Ever heard of the Kessler Syndrome? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_Syndrome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted February 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Here's an earthbound adventure for you: A small research submarine has lost power and sunk off the coast of Los Angeles. Air supply is limited. As if that weren't bad enough, the sub's location is perilously close to the frozen methane deposit in the area. The rescue team will have to exercise due caution while moving quickly enough to save the sub's crew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 Re: Hard sci-fi adventures? Yes, those methane clathrates are touchy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane_clathrate Especially since they can cause catastrophic global climate change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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