Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

"Touched" also works' date=' especially if there are personality quirks associated with it. There could also be different permutations ("space-touched", "void-touched", etc).[/quote']

 

I like.

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

The following quote is sampled in the self-titled UNKLE song, U.N.K.L.E, and I have to find somewhere to use it, probably as the inspiration for an NPC and a story arc:

 

"There were too many of us. We had access to too much money.. too much equipment. And little by little we went insane."

-- Francis Ford Coppola (whether he's commenting on the Vietnam War, or the making of his war movie Apocalypse Now, is unclear.)

[Ian Mackinder]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Francis Ford Coppola (whether he's commenting on the Vietman War' date=' or the making of his war movie Apocalypse Now, is unclear.)[/quote']

 

Always has been.

[csyphrett]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

I have always liked to use gravity as a weapon as well as for transportation.

 

The genetics and cybernetics does lend itself to living weapons like the Xmen and Ghost in the Shell.

 

If you are using Otherspace as a means to FTL, can you use it for in system teleportation of cargo?

CES

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

I have always liked to use gravity as a weapon as well as for transportation.

 

The genetics and cybernetics does lend itself to living weapons like the Xmen and Ghost in the Shell.

 

GitS, perhaps. Nothing so crazy as comic book mutant powers.

 

If you are using Otherspace as a means to FTL' date=' can you use it for in system teleportation of cargo?[/quote']

 

For many situations, it's not worth it, by the time you clear enough of one planet's gravity well, make a shallow transit to avoid overshoot, etc.

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Otherspace

 

 

Most simply refer to it as “otherspace”, even though the formal scientific name of amongst human cultures is “Vandersar – Kurakimichi space” in honor of the scientists who first described the strange dimension.

 

Depending on whom you ask, otherspace exists alongside, behind, above, or below “normal space”. None of these explanations are truly accurate. Conventional descriptions fail; accurate understanding requires complex abstract mathematics, and/or a certain… gift.

 

Otherspace is non-Euclidian and non-Einsteinian, and some would even say non-objective. While the perceptible universe of human experience is commonly understood to consist of four dimensions – width, height, depth, and time – otherspace is five dimensional. That fifth dimension can most easily be understood as “distance” or “separation”; the farther along that “v axis” one goes, the closer points are together.

 

While this is interesting on a theoretical level, it wouldn’t have been world changing without one last fact: every point in normal space coincides with a point in otherspace, and the “mapping” of those points is roughly the same. Because those points can be closer together in otherspace than they are in normal space, two points that are separated by vast distances in normal space can effectively be right next to each other in otherspace.

 

The Vandersar – Kurakimichi Drive (VK Drive, dim drive, otherspace drive, “shortcut drive”) generates a transition field that allows a ship to enter and exist in otherspace. By accessing otherspace at a certain “depth” on the v axis, the ship crosses between points faster than the speed of light would allow. According to some, a ship could, by accessing otherspace “all the way down”, travel instantly to anywhere in the universe. There are two problems with attempting this, however.

 

First, masses in normal space cast “shadows” in otherspace. The more massive an object is, the more tangible its shadow is. Planets and stars have very tangible shadows, and if a vessel is too “deep” upon transitioning, the mass shadow will overlap its current position, with potentially disastrous results.

 

Second, as noted, otherspace can be described as “non-objective”. The “deeper” one is in otherspace, the more pronounced this becomes. The strange phenomena that are occasionally reported at the commonly used depths become intense and constant.

 

Otherspace can be creepy, ships sometimes disappear, people sometimes go crazy. The stories are always told in the style of “something that happened to a friend of a friend” or “what an old spacer buddy of my dad told me”. Voices, apparitions, nightmares, even... something moving at the edge of sight, out there beyond the windows, if you're one of those who can stand to look out into otherspace at all. Most spacers try to dismiss the weirder tales as hyperbole and paranoia and hallucinations, but they also carry their lucky objects, knock on the bulkhead three times, and so on... just in case... especially when feedback through the dim drive field makes the ship groan and creak like a WW2 submarine.

 

Most people are at least unnerved by the nature of otherspace, and for this reason, ships typically “button up” during otherspace transits. Viewports and windows are closed, and some passengers even retreat to the comfort of sleep-inducers for the duration of the transit. Militaries and shipping companies are always looking to recruit those who are able to endure or ignore the sight of naked otherspace outside the ship… beyond the WK drive field.

 

Navigating in otherspace takes a knack or talent… it takes a certain touch. For some, it expresses itself as an intense mathematical talent for mental calculation and interpreting numbers on the fly. In others, it manifests are a sort of limited precognition while in otherspace. Perception in otherspace is markedly more subjective than in the world most people are familiar with, and not everyone is able to adapt. While not a rare enough ability to stifle interstellar travel, possessing the ability to do so does guarantee one a well-paying job for life, and both governments and corporations will provide a free education to anyone with the ability to navigate in otherspace.

 

Travel times in otherspace vary, depending on the strength of the drive and the skill of the navigator. Typical transits run at 1 to 2 light years per day, and this is the speed of most large cargo and passenger vessels. Combat vessels are somewhat faster. Couriers, elite military intel/scout vessels, and research ships will top out at about 1 LY per hour for short periods, with their relatively massive dim drives and crews made up entirely of highly-trained Gifted.

 

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

The Touched

 

 

The barrier between worlds does not, it seems, prevent all contact. Theories vary, and the names vary between cultures, but the fact remains that some people are Touched, usually understood in spacer parlance to mean “touched by otherspace” or “touched by the void”. Some prefer the term “Gifted”.

 

The most important and accepted Touch (or Gift) in the modern interstellar age is the aforementioned ability to guide a ship through otherspace. There are other ways to be Touched; most are subtle. For example, a person might almost unconsciously evade danger or dodge blows. Another might be very good at reading people, bordering on empathic. Far more rare are abilities such as telepathy, clairsentience, and inherent mind-machine interfacing.

 

Being Touched isn’t always a blessing: hearing other people’s thoughts is more of a curse if it’s constant, and uncontrollable, and rarely more than collections of unintelligible whispers and mutterings. Some show no signs of being Touched, make their first transit, and forever have vague nightmares.

 

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

The Dark

 

 

In some ways, the Dark – deep space, way out between the stars where people rarely go – is more mysterious and unsettling than otherspace. It’s largely unknown, vastly empty, achingly quiet, oddly serene, and so far from everything. Imagine that it's somewhat like the era of seaplane routes across the Pacific. The seaplanes could land in the middle of nothing on the deep open Pacific, but unless something went wrong, or they had a special reason, why would anyone ever do it? If someone really wants to get lost or lose something, they do it out there, in the Dark.

 

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Important Technologies

 

 

In the medical field, genetics has come a long way from its 20th century roots. Cloning has been perfected, and lost limbs and organs can easily be replaced. Genetic engineering of people is still a somewhat controversial subject, with deep ideological divides between those who would have it restricted to curing individuals, those who would see it used to modify the germline to eliminate disorders from the entire species, and those who wish to see the entire species improved. Bioenhancement is also available, replacing organs with upgraded but fully organic replacements, such as nightvision eyes, livers and kidneys that protect against lethal poisons, and so on. Longevity drugs, commonly known as “Methuselah shots”, are available to those of at least moderate wealth, and even the poorest can expect to live over 100 years, 80 of those in fairly active condition.

 

Cybernetics has also come a long way. Replacement limbs are not an uncommon sight, although medically-necessary replacement is widely viewed as more acceptable than enhancement, and flesh-and-blood replacements are seen as preferable in many places. The entire body, other than the brain, may be replaced in extreme instances. On many worlds, those with full-body replacement are looked upon with suspicion, pity, or disdain.

 

Computers are staggeringly fast and powerful, and often seem to be intelligent, but for the most part are not genuine “artificial intelligences”. A machine with ideas of its own isn’t worth the trouble in many cases. Quantum computing, optronics, and high-temperature superconductors are three of the more important breakthroughs allowing for the continuing increase in computing power.

 

The development of gravitics – the science of artificially generating, negating, and manipulating gravity – was a major improvement in the comfort and health of space travelers. It also allows for non-aerodynamic flight, routine transatmospheric operations, and the classic “hovercar”.

 

 

 

Trade, Travel, and Communications

 

 

Interstellar trade is dominated by massive container ships, carrying hundreds or thousands of sealed containers along established routes. Safety and economy are more important than top speed, and transits for these ships average less one light year per day. These ships also carry bulk mail and other packages in a designated mail container, which is always loaded last and unloaded first.

 

The bulk carriers service major worlds and other hubs, but from there, smaller container vessels and light freighters service routes to local destinations, minor systems, and colony worlds. Smaller dedicated carriers also make faster package and mail runs between systems.

 

The most urgent materials are carried by fast charter couriers; rates are steep, but considered well worth it by the government agencies, corporations, and wealthy clients who pay for the service. For non-material communications, there also exists a network of otherspace communication relays; the signals are somewhat faster than the fastest courier ships, but its capacity is finite, the equipment is massive and requires immense amounts of power, it requires a Touched navigator to tune the equipment on a regular basis, and only major systems and hub worlds are covered. The exact layout of which stations are connected and what priority a message will receive change over time as the relationships between various governments change.

 

Travel between star systems depends entirely on what one can afford. Large liners ponder along regular routes, often the same routes as the bulk cargo carriers, and these slow trips are all that most people can afford. Passage on faster ships, chartering a vessel, and personal “yachts” are all options for those of more substantial means.

 

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Cultures, Movements, and Factions

 

 

 

Spacers

 

Spacers form their own unique culture, with humans and aliens who make their lives and livings in space, especially in interstellar travel, having certain things in common that their respective planet-side brethren don’t share. Most planet dwellers, or down-siders as some spacers call them, don't have to worry about vacuum and radiation and micrometeors just outside the walls. Even many of the dockworkers and spacehab dwellers don't understand what trip after trip out there is like; they spend their most of their lives living in the glow of the same star, with help and rescue nearby.

 

Nomads

 

There are humans (and aliens) who are born, live, and pass on, in ships traveling long circuits across space, moving from one system to another, trading and smuggling doing odd jobs to get by. Some groups travel in a single, giant ship, while others move in somewhat rag-tag fleets of random small freighters and liners.

 

Traders Guild

 

This wide-ranging union of interstellar merchants and couriers defends what it perceives as the interests of its members, using its influence with regional and system governments to push an agenda of free movement and open trade (especially for its paying members).

 

Perfectionists

 

There are those who believe that the human species must improve itself through direct manipulation of the gene pool. Genetic cures for individuals, cloned organs, and bioenhancements are acceptable, but doing away with the need for such things by “perfecting” the species is their ultimate goal. Cybernetics are considered inferior and misguided at best, anathema at worst – the goal is to perfect the being, not replace it with dead things.

 

Adventists

 

Adventists believe not just in the use of computers and cybernetics, but in the deliberate transcendence of mankind through becoming one with machines. In a past age, they would have been called “transhumanists”. Rare is the Adventist who does not at least have brain upgrades and a computer uplink port implanted in his head, and they are disproportionately represented among those with full body replacement cybernetics. They doggedly advocate for AI and mind-machine-interface technology, and full mind upload is their holy grail.

 

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Alien Species

 

 

 

Humanity keeps encountering alien species that seem awfully human. Not every alien species, but enough to defy pure chance. Some aliens believe in an ancient race, or gods, or someone, who spread the seeds of life on many worlds. Some believe that the entire universe is alive and that of course the same forms keep appearing in intelligent life, because all intelligence is the universe experiencing itself. Most humans would say “Crazy aliens”. Still, it's not a mystery that’s not going away.

 

Other “aliens” really are human, at least in origin, but have adapted to new environments through genetic manipulation and cultural changes, until they’re really a new species or subspecies, not always able to interbreed with other humans, especially other derivations. Many of these peoples have their origins in the early days of human exploration and colonization, when travel times between distant stars could be measured in months and terraforming was in its infancy. Two examples would be heavies and lighters, people from high or low gravity planets respectively, or of one of those heritages.

 

Alien species of note (not of known human descent) include:

 

Flaer

 

Believed to have descended from large arboreal or flying predators, the Flaer are small, slight humanoids with large eyes and long pointed ears. Because of their sensitive eyes and their need for a lower-oxygen atmosphere, they are usually seen wearing goggles and a breath mask. They are known to retain the stunning scream of their ancestors, although they are said to find it taxing to use. Their companies are well known for excellent environmental systems, and top-notch sonic weapons.

 

Skavish

 

The Skavish are renowned hunters, and are rarely encountered outside of that role. They may be hired to capture or kill a target, if the price is right and it suits their arcane moral code. Few in their right mind would push the issue, or challenge a Skavish in combat. They are said to make the finest sliver guns available. Each carries a sacred knife that is unique in design and viciously sharp – only the most honored non-Skavish may so much as possess one without issuing grave insult to all Skavish, and those who are known to actually carry one with Skavish blessing are generally left in peace.

 

Dwellers

 

Out in the Dark, in the eerie quiet between the star, where even spacers try to never go, there are said to be enigmatic traders who wander the galaxy in black ships. Little is known about them, save that occasionally a crew will come into port with some new technology or strange artifact that they swear was obtained from the Dwellers for either an exorbitant price or an inexplicable barter. Nothing is known of their culture, biology, or motives.

 

Sinvat-hoc

 

These aliens long ago took total control over their own genome, and they are widely considered the masters of biotechnology. They are divided into a multitude of forms, all artificially cloned and born from vats to fulfill a specific role. Their otherspace pilots, for example, are almost entirely brain, live in nutrient-tanks, and exist only to fulfill that role. Their diplomats and traders are adapted to deal with whichever species they are assigned to. Humans, for example, would almost always encounter Sinvat-hoc who appear and act very human.

 

Dewin

 

Unlike all other known species, for whom the Touch is rare, over 95% of all Dewin are Touched in some way, at least latently, with minor telepathy being the most common talent. Dewin otherspace pilots are in high demand, and can be found on the commercial spacecraft of several other species.

 

 

Propiet

 

Out beyond the fringes of human exploration, there is reportedly a race known as the Propiet, who define their culture and worth through martial prowess and success alone. It is said that they have long used robotic serfs to fulfill all of the roles they consider beneath them, in the way that the Spartans had their helots. In recent years, rumors of lost contact with Propiet worlds, the sudden withdrawal of their forces from combat, and small groups showing up on non-Propiet worlds looking for mercenary work have begun to circulate in intelligence circles and spaceport bars.

 

The Others

 

Their actual name is unknown, as is the location of their homeworld. Few have seen the face of an Other, but from what is known, they appear to have some form of metallic composition, despite their humanoid forms. They keep their own council and do not tolerate interference. Said to be invisible to and unaffected by the talents of the Touched, it is unknown how they travel between the stars, as under current theory this would leave them unable to navigate in otherspace. Their technology might be far ahead of that possessed by the known species.

 

Hmyzu

 

Certainly not a humanoid species, the Hmyzu resemble 3-meter long centipedes with two pairs of arms near the front of their body; each arm ends in a hand with four opposed fingers. The head features two pairs of eyes and two pairs of antennae, and a complex mouth with four pairs of mandibles and a rasping tongue. Despite what humans might find a fearsome appearance, Hmyzu are typically friendly, open, and peaceful.

 

Lesniroh

 

Largely humanoid, the most immediately obvious physical feature of a Lesniroh would be the smooth, elongated skull, extending back and slightly upward. The physiology inside the skull gives them their most famous feature however – their deep, resonating singing voices. In areas dominated by human cultures, they’re valued as entertainers and artists. Within their own territories, they’re struggling to overcome their clannish nature and Balkanized, Byzantine political structure.

 

Veer

 

Appearing almost human, the veer have two striking differences in appearance. First, they possess feather-like adornment instead of hair, with a full crest on the head and downier feathers along the spine to the small of the back, and feathers on the forearms. Second, their eyes have no visible whites, with large irises of striking colors and vertical slit pupils. Their lack of sexual dimorphism and seemingly casual attitude about sexual relationships have also been noted by outside observers, but they are intensely private about the details.

 

Libenje

 

Vaguely squid or octopus-like, the Libenje are rarely seen outside their encounter suits when dealing with other species. Having attained interstellar travel before most known species, they regard themselves as wise elders, an attitude with a variable relationship to reality, much to the exasperation and occasional humor of others.

 

 

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Well, there's the setting (in rough draft form, at least), split up for easier reading. I'll post major updates as they come, but for now I need to work on the crunchier bits.

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Speaking of crunch, I started a thread on a system question for one of the possible NPCs:

 

How To Build: AI with a "puppet" body

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

You're missing two of my favourites, the incomprehensibly alien gas giant species, and the incomprehensibly transformed STL generation-ship descended civilisation. "She went through the market and the children cried....and came at last to the foot of Death's Head's Hill."

I don't think I've got the scansion right, though.

 

Ah hah:

 

"She walked through the gates and the children cried,

She walked through the Market and the voices died,

She walked past the court house and the judge so still,

She walked to the bottom of Death's Head hill..."

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

You're missing two of my favourites, the incomprehensibly alien gas giant species, and the incomprehensibly transformed STL generation-ship descended civilisation. "She went through the market and the children cried....and came at last to the foot of Death's Head's Hill."

I don't think I've got the scansion right, though.

 

Ah hah:

 

"She walked through the gates and the children cried,

She walked through the Market and the voices died,

She walked past the court house and the judge so still,

She walked to the bottom of Death's Head hill..."

 

The concept of the generation-ship descendants appeals to me in general, but I don't know how it fits into the past of this setting. I'm not certain if humanity would have sent any out before discovering the FTL method of the setting.

 

 

PS: If you search for that quote on Google, this thread is the second thing listed. If you search for "not magic really", it's the first thing listed.

[Nyrath]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

You're missing two of my favourites, the incomprehensibly alien gas giant species, and the incomprehensibly transformed STL generation-ship descended civilisation. "She went through the market and the children cried....and came at last to the foot of Death's Head's Hill."

I don't think I've got the scansion right, though.

 

Ah hah:

 

"She walked through the gates and the children cried,

She walked through the Market and the voices died,

She walked past the court house and the judge so still,

She walked to the bottom of Death's Head hill..."

I want to say The Ballad of Beta-2 by Samuel R. Delany, but I'm not sure.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Indeed. Much more compelling and relevant than Beta-17.

The one gives you Sapir-Whorl, the other Clifford Geertz.

 

PS: Without the quotes, it's now number 1 on Google. With the quotes it goes to an online copy of Ballad of Beta-2. Geez, what's the fun in that?

[Nyrath]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Indeed. Much more compelling and relevant than Beta-17.

The one gives you Sapir-Whorl, the other Clifford Geertz.

Isn't that Babel-17? The language that proves the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis?

 

http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3ao.html#sapir

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

You're so right. Appparently I'm all about the typoes today. I blame Steve Sailer.*

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Because I don't like him, that's why.

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Crunchy stuff is going well.

 

On setting stuff, working on a blurb about the various government and legal aspects.

[Nolgroth]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Well I'll say that the setting looks good so far. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread for ideas to blatantly rip off.

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

https://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75956

 

Started a thread over on System Discussion, trying to find the right build for an NPC (an big AI computer with a " remote puppet" body that's all but indistinguishable from an actual person, but simply a remote for the AI).

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

As part of forgoing the urge to stat up everything, I've decided to play the AI/remote NPC out based purely on the special effect for now. If it becomes necessary to stat it up for some reason, I'll have to come back to it.

 

 

Meanwhile, with the first session coming up, I only have the two players, as the others were all too busy in the coming months to make the sessions on a regular basis.

 

One is playing a somewhat-noir PI, who is a former member of the space forces military police of his homeworld and has a bioenhanced sense of smell. The other is playing a burned-out former prodigy with a prodigious gift for navigating otherspace, who sees otherspace in mathematical terms from what the player has told me.

 

I'm working on getting them into a story arc and together in the first session. For possible plot seeds so far, I have the following, some of them shamelessly "inspired by" other sources in fiction:

 

• A special delivery to the private world or station of an eccentric, wealthy person -- unknown to them, they have a stowaway who is trying to find and kill said person.
  
• A job to sneak onto a quarantined planet and recover something, and then get out without being detected, or at least without their ship being IDed.
  
• A job to find someone's "missing relative", but their employer is actually someone seeking to do the missing person harm.
  
• A job to rescue someone's teenage child from some fringe group, only they're not told the kid went willingly.
  
• Trying to recover an artifact that only a highly skilled navigator or other "touched" person can open/access.
  
• Hired to do something in the territory of one government that their another government can't be directly linked with.
  
• Somehow discovering that one faction of the "robot horde" (former slaves of the now-shattered Propiet "warrior species") is kidnapping Navigators to use as the cores of "otherspace navigation biocomputers"
  

 

Neither of them has much at all in the way of engineering/advanced technical skills, so I'm hoping to hook them up with a particular NPC along the way, as well, who might be almost more trouble than she's worth. I have to do one more solo character creation session with each of them, but I'm pretty sure the burned-out navigator is going to have a ship of his own.

 

Any ideas or thoughts?

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Music To Establish the Atmosphere - Arcane by Soma

 

EDIT: I didn't realize that was only 30 seconds, I'll see if there's another link somewhere.

 

Try the one at Yahoo Music.

[Kristopher]

Re: Star HERO with... not magic, really, but...

 

Leaded candidate for the first story arc is as follows:

 

First, the background. Through deceit and double-dealing, rogue elements of four factions, each for their own reasons, were lead to create a "synthoid" (artificial person) navigator -- Perfectionists (humans dedicated to the controlled genetic advancement of the species), Sinvat-hoc (alien species who mastered their own genetics to the point that all members of the species are created to serve specialized role), Dewin (alien species who almost all possess at least a minor "touched gift"), and android representatives of the former robot slaves of the Propiet warrior culture. None of the factions understood what the others actually hoped to get out of the experiment.

 

Of course, there was a quadruple-cross (at least), and the synthoid navigator and the ship she was being shipped on disappeared.

 

The player characters come in when they're hired to locate the ship, "all expenses paid", by one of the factions. Of course, they're not going to be told what they're looking for, but instead they'll be fed a story about a kidnapping or something.

 

As they follow leads, they're going to realize that someone has covertly installed a sort of beacon into their ship in such a way that they'll need a "spacedock" and probably a dim-drive engineer, to remove it without causing a lot of damage to the ship's dim-drive (which is what generates the field that allows the ship to enter otherspace and thus make FTL transits). This is going to link them up with the eccentric NPC who will become their ship's mechanic, hopefully.

 

When they finally find the ship they're looking for, it's wrecked and dead in space, having been fired on at exactrly the wrong moment as it made an otherspace transit. The crew is dead and the systems ruined. Luckily, the sythoid navigator is still in hybernation in her chamber, and a few other strange items can be recovered from the ship as well, including some kind of experimental biocomputer mainframe.

 

The synthoid navigator is actually mindlinked into the biocomputer mainframe. Even with data and samples from the Dewin to work with, the Perfectionist and Sinvat-hoc scientists had trouble creating an artificial Navigator, and neither the experimental biocomputer nor the sythoid is capable of functioning as a Navigator alone.

 

As noted, the PCs (and crew if any) don't know any of the truth of this, and as far as they know they've rescued a kidnapped young woman and salvaged some strange technology. And that's when the fun really begins...

 

PS: The PCs are told that the young woman's name is "Anna". On the hybernation chamber, the readout says "Anesidora".